I 


I 


2* 

l&t^tA 

')''..<    {A    •:' 


'     ^.      •:"•  , 


C 


} 


'*'  / 


&  - 


••//' 

^>X?>t 


Clr& 


L     '    '       - 


SAMSON  CARRYING  THE  GATES  OF  GAZA. 


THE  GIANT  JUDGE 


OR.  THE 


STORY  OF  SAMSON. 


BY  REV,  WA.  SPOTT,  D,  R,    i  «  «  5 

OF   SAN   FRANCISCO. 


1  There  will  I  build  him 


A  monument, 

With  all  his  trophies  hung,  and  acts  enrolled 
In  copious  legend,  or  sweet  lyric  song. 
Thither  shall  all  the  valiant  youth  resort, 
And  from  his  memory  inflame  their  breasts 
To  matchless  valour,  and  adventures  high : 
The  virgins  also, shall,  on  feastl'ul  days, 
Visit  his  tomb  with  flowers." — Samson  Agorristes. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION. 

NO.   821   CHESTNUT  STREET. 


,  5" 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858,  by 
JAMES  DUNLAP,  TREAS., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of 
Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPBD  BT  JESPER  HARDING  &  SON, 
INQUIRER  BUILDING,  SOUTH  THIRD  STREET,  PHILA. 


Ubwy 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAP.  I.  THE  HERO'S  WONDERFUL  STORY  TOLD,          .        .  11 

II.    THE  HEROIC  JUDGES  AND  THEIR  TIMES,    .             .  .21 

III.  THE  STORY  A  REVELATION  INSPIRED,                 .             .  29 

IV.  SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED,       .  .     49 
V.  CHRIST  IN  THE  THEOPHANIES  OF  THE  OLD  TESTA- 
MENT,       ........     69 

VI.  TflE  FAMILY  SACRIFICE  AND  CONFERENCE,           .  88 

VII.  THE  LIFE  OF  THE  HERO  BEGUN,       .        .        .  .97 

VIII.  SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE — THE  LION  FIGHT,   .  .        .  109 

IX.  SWEETNESS  OUT  OF  THE  STRONG,     .         .         .  .  121 

X.    THE  WEDDING  RIDDLE  AND  TRAGEDY,                .             .  131 

XI.    THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  FIRE-BRAND  FOXES,        .  .    146 

XII.    THE  JAW-BONE  SLAUGHTER,              ....  158 

XIII.    THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM,           .            .  .    170 

XIV.  SAMSON  IN  DELILAH'S  LAP,           ....  181 

XV.    A  GRIST  FROM  THE  PRISON-MILL  OF  GAZA,             .  .    192 

XVI.    THE  FINAL  CONTEST  AND  TRAGEDY,        .            .            .  209 

XVII.  THE  EPILOGUE  AND  ITS  TEACHINGS,          .        .  .  224 

(3) 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  this  little  volume  I  have  a  definite  end  in  view.  I  candidly 
acknowledge  that,  with  me,  the  reality  of  Bible  histories  is  an 
indispensable  condition  to  faith  in  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of 
Christianity.  It  is  my  purpose  therefore,  so  far  as  the  subject 
seems  to  come  properly  within  the  reach  of  these  pages,  to  consider 
the  history  of  Sarnson  as  a  true  history,  explain  its  meaning,  and 
apply  its  principles.  Unless  biblical  memoirs  are  strictly  true — a 
record  of  things  as  they  were,  and  of  facts  as  they  did  occur — if 
the  men  named  are  nations  or  myths,  and  not  individuals — if 
the  miracles  wrought  by  Moses  and  Samson  are  mere  natural 
phenomena  or  figures  of  speech  ;  then  I  have  no  confidence  that 
the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are  from  God. 

I  am  well  aware  that  some  do  not  like  the  subject  I  have  chosen 
— they  would  prefer  Joseph  or  Daniel  as  a  hero.  Others  are  ready 
to  pronounce  the  effort  as  useless — and  some  consider  it  as  "  an 
idle  attempt  to  collect  evidence,"  on  a  subject  that  does  not  admit 
of  proof ;  and  others  will  charge  me  with  maintaining  most  uncriti- 
cal, ignorant,  unphilosophical,  baseless  assumptions  in  regard  to 
the  histories  of  the  Bible,  and  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
scriptures.  But  as  Keil  in  his  preface  to  Joshua  expresses  it,  I 
am  persuaded  that  "  The  great  want  of  the  Church,  at  the  present 
day,  is  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  meaning  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, in  its  fulness  and  purity,  in  order  that  the  God  of  Israel  may 
again  be  universally  recognized  as  the  eternal  God,  whose  faithful- 
ness is  unchangeable,  the  one  living  and  true  God,  who  performed 
all  that  he  did  to  Israel  for  our  instruction  and  salvation,  having 
chosen  Abraham  and  his  seed  to  be  his  people,  to  preserve  his  reve- 
lations, that  from  him  the  whole  world  might  receive  salvation,  and 
in  him  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed." 

1*  (5) 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

The  great  Augustine  in  his  one  hundred  and  sixtieth  sermon  is 
correct  in  saving  most  emphatically,  Novum  Testamentum  in  vetere 
velabatur :  Vetus  Testamentum  in  novo  revelatur.  "  The  New  Testa- 
ment was  veiled  in  the  Old  ;  the  Old  Testament  is  revealed  in  the 
New."  If  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  therefore  the  only  way  of 
salvation,  the  historical  reality  of  the  Old  Testament  must  be  fully 
established.  It  is  true,  that  the  good  things  of  which  in  the  old 
economy  we  have  only  the  shadows,  have  come  in  all  their  precious 
realities :  but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  old  economy  is  wholly 
obsolete.  When  a  fond  mother  folds  in  her  arms  a  living  son 
returned  from  distant  lands,  or  with  honour  from  many  a  bloody 
field  of  battle,  she  does  not  indeed  in  the  moment  of  transport  turn 
from  the  living  face  to  gaze  on  the  cold  picture.  The  artist  may 
not  choose  to  study  his  subject  in  twilight,  when  he  may  have  it 
in  the  full  blaze  of  day.  And  yet,  that  fond  mother  may  by  the 
help  of  the  portrait  discover  some  line  of  beauty  in  her  son's  face, 
which  she  had  not  observed  without  it :  and  the  artist  may  find 
that  some  sharp  and  simple  outlines  of  the  mountain  or  of  the 
palace  ruins  are  brought  much  more  impressively  before  his  eye 
against  a  twilight  sky  than  in  the  glare  of  day.  The  great  truths 
of  Christianity  stand  up  boldly  in  the  history  of  God's  ancient 
people,  just  as  the  lofty  headlands  of  a  dim  and  distant  coast  are 
seen  from  the  sea ;  though  more  clearly  stated  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  the  distant  view  is  not  without  grandeur  and  import- 
ance. And  as  the  best,  and  in  fact  the  only  way  to  remove  dark- 
ness from  a  room,  is  to  let  in  light,  so  it  seems  to  us  the  best,  if 
not  the  only  way  to  save  the  Old  Testament  from  rationalism  and 
a  Christless  interpretation  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  extravagan- 
cies of  pietism  on  the  other,  is  to  promote  its  true  understanding  ; 
and  in  order  to  this  we  must  vindicate  its  authenticity  and  come 
to  its  true  interpretation.  But  this  cannot  be  done  by  ignoring 
altogether  the  schools  of  Neological  criticism,  nor  by  allegorizing 
and  finding  types  of  Christ  in  everything.  I  am  perfectly  sure 
that  in  regard  to  modern  science,  historical  discoveries,  and  anti- 
quarian researches,  we  nmy  rest  securely  on  the  position  of  our 
distinguished  countryman  (Lieut.  Maury):  "I  have  always  found," 
says  he,  "  in  my  scientific  studies,  that  when  I  could  get  the  Bible 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

to  say  anything  upon  the  subject,  it  afforded  me  a  firm  foundation 
to  stand  upon,  and  another  round  in  the  ladder  by  which  I  could 
safely  ascend." 

Within  the  last  fifty  years,  and  even  within  less  than  half  that 
period,  wonderful  progress  has  been  made  in  nearly  all  the  branches 
of  sacred  literature.  Profound  grammatical  and  lexicographical 
researches  have  made  us  better  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew  and 
cognate  tongues.  The  customs  and  institutions  of  Oriental  nations 
are  now  quite  familiar  to  us.  Ancient  writers  and  monumental 
records  are  interpreted  with  much  more  accuracy  than  in  ages 
past.  By  being  able  to  read  the  hieroglyphic  records  of  the  private 
and  public  life  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  we  know  more  of  "  the 
court  of  the  Pharaohs  than  we  do  of  the  Plantagenets."  And 
these  records  afford  important,  though  undesigned,  confirmations  of 
the  historical  verity  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  enable  us  to  under- 
stand many  hitherto  obscure  Biblical  passages  and  allusions.  So 
numerous  and  important  are  the  proofs  and  illustrations  of  the 
authenticity  of  the  historical  books  of  the  Bible,  gathered  from  the 
labours  of  modern  missionaries  and  travellers  in  the  East,  and  from 
the  readings  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  moijuments  of  the  Nile, 
Tigris,  and  Euphrates,  that  our  Bible  dictionaries  and  commenta- 
ries will  all  have  to  be  re- written.  Many  of  them  have  been  super- 
seded already.  Important  as  they  have  been,  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
considered  ungrateful  in  me  to  say,  that  the  chief  commentaries  in 
our  language  of  a  former  age,  are  destitute  of  the  refreshing  breath 
of  science,  and  without  the  lights  of  such  patient  and  thorough 
research  into  antiquity  as  characterizes  our  day.  This  was  rather 
their  misfortune  than  their  fault.  While  we  shall  ever  thank  God 
for  their  able  and  pious  labours,  it  is  but  true  to  say,  that  they 
wrote  sermons  about  rather  than  expositions  of  the  sacred  text. 

Most  of  the  old  commentators  are  too  much  given  to  spiritual- 
izing rather  than  expounding  the  word  of  God.  We  cannot  have 
too  much  of  Christ  in  our  pulpits  ;  but  the  spirit  of  our  age  calls 
also  for  historical  and  critical  studies  in  order  to  the  successful  pre- 
sentation of  "  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  And  if,  in  preaching 
from  the  sacred  records,  we  dismember  them,  and  in  our  zeal  to 
find  evangelical  doctrines,  fail  to  apprehend  the  mind  of  the  Spirit, 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

then  we  do  great  injustice  to  revelation.  We  should  avoid  ex 
tremes,  for  doubtless  there  is  a  way  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  results 
of  modern  criticism,  so  as  to  combine  the  orthodox  faith  of  former 
ages  with  the  science  and  ripened  fruits  of  modern  times.  The 
wonderful  discoveries  of  our  day  furnish  such  a  weight  of  evidence 
in  favour  of  the  historic  realities  and  accuracy  of  the  divine  records 
and  of  the  literal  fulfilment,  of  prophecy,  that  they  actually  form 
a  new  and  extensive  class  of  Evidences  for  Christianity.  These 
discoveries  are,  however,  so  recent,  and  so  diversified  and  scattered, 
that  they  can  hardly  be  said  yet  to  be  classified  or  arranged.  Nor 
is  this  species  of  evidence  by  any  means  complete.  But  enough  is 
known  to  convince  caiadid  and  intelligent  readers  that  the  ancient 
historians  and  monumental  records  of  the  East  do  furnish  us  with 
remarkable  illustrations  of  the  sacred  writers,  and  undesigned  coin- 
cidences so  striking,  so  numerous,  and  so  minute,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  escape  from  the  conviction  that  the  Bible  books  are  both  genuine 
and  authentic.  Let  it  be  kept,  however,  distinctly  in  mind,  that 
in  the  following  pages  there  is  no  attempt  to  go  over  the  whole 
field  just  referred  to.  By  no  means.  I  have  not  travelled  out  of 
the  sacred  record  concerning  Samson.  I  have  only  attempted  to 
sum  up  and  arrange  together  so  much  of  the  results  of  biblical 
researches  as  seemed  to  me  to  belong  to  the  life  of  the  Israelitish 
judge.  I  am  aware,  moreover,  that  views  and  objections  bearing 
upon  the  "  Book  of  Judges"  and  the  life  of  Samson  have  been  put 
forth  by  Rosenmuller,  Eichhorn,  Maurer,  Paulus,  Strauss,  and 
others,  adverse  to  those  defended  in  these  pages,  which  I  have  not 
thought  of  sufficient  importance  or  pertinency  to  be  named  at  all, 
lest  it  should  seem  to  the  sturdy,  honest  Bible  readers  of  our  own 
country  that  we  were  fighting  men  of  straw.  And  besides,  if  we 
have  succeeded  in  vindicating  and  making  good  our  interpretations, 
theirs  must  fall  to  the  ground. 

I  do  not  suppose  it  is  a  valid  objection  against  publishing  a 
book  that  other  volumes  on  the  same  subject  have  preceded  it. 
For  every  man  has  his  own  anointing,  and  no  one  else  can  do  the 
work  to  which  providence  has  called  him.  Many  valuable  com- 
mentaries and  volumes  of  Bible  Illustrations  have  been  published, 
and  those  named  in  the  following  pages  are  especially  recommended, 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

with  the  hope  that  if  they  are  not  already  in  every  library  and 
family,  they  soon  will  be.  It  is  but  justice  to  say,  however,  that 
I  am  not  acquainted  with  a  single  work  on  the  plan  of  this  one, 
or  that  occupies  the  place  it  is  designed  to  fill.  In  the  prepara- 
tion of  these  chapters,  I  have  endeavoured,  if  I  may  so  express 
myself,  to  saturate  my  mind  and  heart  with  the  spirit  of  the  origi- 
nal text,  and  with  the  writings  of  the  most  approved  critics  and 
interpreters  of  it,  and,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  to  exhaust  them  in 
whatever  I  deemed  available  for  explaining  and  presenting  in  a 
brief  way  the  true  meaning  of  the  narrative.  I  suppose  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  every  conscientious  interpreter  of  the  word  of  God  to 
study  it,  as  the  old  divines  express  it,  painfully,  and  to  use  freely 
the  best  helps  within  reach,  for  enabling  them  to  show  the  people 
the  way  of  salvation.  The  Hebrew  has  been  carefully  studied ; 
but  as  Hebrew  Bibles  are  now  within  reach  of  all  who  desire  to 
see  the  original,  we  have  not  printed  it  in  our  pages.  We  thought 
it  best  to  present  the  edifice  with  as  few  signs  of  the  scaffolding  as 
were  sufficient  to  give  an  idea  how  it  was  built. 

The  collection  of  facts  and  customs  from  Bible  Lands  used  as 
illustrations  of  the  text  have  in  most  cases  been  verified  by  my  own 
personal  researches  and  observations  in  the  East,  and  by  the  latest 
readings  of  oriental  monuments,  so  far  as  they  have  any  bearing  on 
our  narrative.  I  have  sought  to  remove  objections,  and  to  bring 
home  the  truth.  My  aim  is  the  conversion  of  the  heart  to  God 
by  pouring  light  upon  it.  And  if  it  shall  please  God  to  bless  the 
undertaking,  to  HIM  be  all  the  praise,  through  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. 


THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    HERO'S    STORY   TOLD. 

"Jewish  history  is  God's  illuminated  clock  set  in  the  dark  steeple 
of  time." 

"  Most  wondrous  book !  bright  candle  of  the  Lord ! 
Star  of  Eternity !     The  only  star 
By  which  the  bark  of  man  could  navigate 
The  sea  of  life,  and  gain  the  coast  of  bliss 
Securely." 

JUDGES  xiii — xvi. — And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil 
again  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  delivered  them 
into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  forty  years. 

And  there  was  a  certain  man  of  Zorah,  of  the  family  of 
the  Danites,  whose  name  was  Manoah ;  and  his  wife  was 
barren,  and  bare  not.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
unto  the  woman,  and  said  unto  her,  Behold  now,  thou  art 
barren,  and  bearest  not :  but  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear 
a  son.  Now  therefore  beware,  I  pray  thee,  and  drink  not 
wine  nor  strong  drink,  and  eat  not  any  unclean  thing :  for, 
lo,  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son ;  and  no  razor  shall 
come  on  his  head :  for  the  child  shall  be  a  Nazarite  unto 
God  from  the  womb;  and  he  shall  begin  to  deliver  Israel 
out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines.  Then  the  woman  came 


12  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

and  told  her  husband,  saying,  A  man  of  God  came  unto  me, 
and  his  countenance  was  like  the  countenance  of  an  angel 
of  God,  very  terrible :  but  I  asked  him  not  whence  he  was, 
neither  told  he  me  his  name  :  but  he  said  unto  me,  Behold, 
thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son ;  and  now  drink  no  wine 
nor  strong  drink,  neither  eat  any  unclean  thing :  for  the 
child  shall  be  a  Nazarite  to  God  from  the  womb  to  the  day 
of  his  death. 

Then  Manoah  entreated  the  Lord,  and  said,  0  my  Lord, 
let  the  man  of  God  which  thou  didst  send  come  again  unto 
us,  and  teach  us  what  we  shall  do  unto  the  child  that  shall 
be  born.  And  God  hearkened  to  the  voice  of  Manoah ;  and 
the  angel  of  God  came  again  unto  the  woman  as  she  sat  in 
the  field  :  but  Manoah  her  husband  was  not  with  her.  And 
the  woman  made  haste,  and  ran,  and  shewed  her  husband, 
and  said  unto  him,  Behold,  the  man  hath  appeared  unto  me, 
that  came  unto  me  the  other  day.  And  Manoah  arose,  and 
went  after  his  wife,  and  came  to  the  man,  and  said  unto 
him,  Art  thou  the  man  that  spakest  unto  the  woman  ?  And 
he  said,  I  am.  And  Manoah  said,  Now  let  thy  words  come 
to  pass.  How  shall  we  order  the  child,  and  how  shall 
we  do  unto  him  ?  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto 
Manoah,  Of  all  that  I  said  unto  the  woman  let  her  beware. 
She  may  not  eat  of  any  thing  that  cometh  of  the  vine, 
neither  let  her  drink  wine  or  strong  drink,  nor  eat  any  un- 
clean thing  :  all  that  I  commanded  her  let  her  observe. 
And  Manoah  said  unto  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  I  pray  thee, 
let  us  detain  thee,  until  we  shall  have  made  ready  a  kid  for 
thee.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  Manoah,  Though 
thou  detain  me,  I  will  not  eat  of  thy  bread  :  and  if  thou 
wilt  offer  a  burnt-offering,  thou  must  offer  it  unto  the  Lord. 
For  Manoah  knew  not  that  he  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord. 
And  Manoah  said  unto  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  What  is  thy 

me,  that  when  thy  sayings  come  to  pass  we  may  do  thee 


SCRIPTURAL    NARRATIVE.  13 

honour?  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Why 
askest  thou  thus  after  my  name,  seeing  it  is  secret  ?  So 
Manoah  took  a  kid  with  a  meat-offering,  and  offered  it  upon 
a  rock  unto  the  Lord  :  and  the  angel  did  wondrously ;  and 
Manoah  and  his  wife  looked  on.  For  it  came  to  pass,  when 
the  flame  went  up  toward  heaven  from  off  the  altar,  that  the . 
angel  of,  the  Lord  ascended  in  the  flame  of  the  altar.  And 
Manoah  and  his  wife  looked  on  it,  and  fell  on  their  faces  to 
the  ground.  But  the  angel  of  the  Lord  did  no  more  appear 
to" Manoah  and  to  his  wife.  Then  Manoah  knew  that  he  was 
an  angel  of  the  Lord.  And  Manoah  said  unto  his  wife, 
We  shall  surely  die,  because  we  have  seen  God.  But  his 
wife  said  unto  him,  If  the  Lord  were  pleased  to  kill  us,  he 
would  not  have  received  a  burnt-offering  and  a  meat-offer- 
ing at  our  hands,  neither  would  he  have  shewed  us  all  these 
things,  nor  would  as  at  this  time  have  told  us  such  things 
as  these. 

And  the  woman  bare  a  son,  and  called  his  name  Samson; 
and  the  child  grew,  and  the  Lord  blessed  him.  And  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him  at  times  in  the  camp 
of  Dan  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol. 

And  Samson  went  down  to  Timnath,  and  saw  a  woman 
in  Timnath  of  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines.  And  he 
came  up,  and  told  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  said,  I 
have  seen  a  woman  in  Timnath  of  the  daughters  of  the 
Philistines :  now  therefore  get  her  for  me  to  wife.  Then 
his  father  and  his  mother  said  unto  him,  Is  there  never  a 
woman  among  the  daughters  of  thy  brethren,  or  among  all 
my  people,  that  thou  goest  to  take  a  wife  of  the  uncircum- 
cised  Philistines  ?  And  Samson  said  unto  his  father,  Get 
her  for  me ;  for  she  pleaseth  me  well.  But  his  father  and 
his  mother  knew  not  that  it  was  of  the  Lord,  that  he  sought 
an  occasion  against  the  Philistines:  for  at  that  time  the 

Philistines  had  dominion  over  Israel.     Then  went  Samson 
2 


14  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

down,  and  his  father  and  his  mother  to  Thnnath,  and  came 
to  the  vineyards  of  Timnath :  and,  behold,  a  young  lion 
roared  against  him.  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came 
mightily  upon  him,  and  he  rent  him  as  he  would  have  rent 
a  kid,  and  he  had  nothing  in  his  hand :  but  he  told  not  his 
father  or  his  mother  what  he  had  done.  And  he  went  down 
and  talked  with  the  woman ;  and  she  pleased  Samson  well. 
And  after  a  time  he  returned  to  take  her,  and  he  turned 
aside  to  see  the  carcass  of  the  lion  :  and,  behold,  there  was 
a  swarm  of  bees  and  honey  in  the  carcass  of  the  lion.  And 
he  took  thereof  in  his  hands  and  went  on  'eating,  and  came 
to  his  father  and  mother,  and  he  gave  them,  and  they  did 
eat :  but  he  told  not  them  that  he  had  taken  the  honey  out 
of  the  carcass  of  the  lion.  So  his  father  went  down  unto 
the  woman  :  and  Samson  made  there  a  feast ;  for  so  used 
the  young  men  to  do.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  saw 
him,  that  they  brought  thirty  companions  to  be  with  him. 
And  Samson  said  unto  them,  I  will  now  put  forth  a  riddle 
unto  you  :  if  ye  can  certainly  declare  it  me  within  the  seven 
days  of  the  feast,  and  find  it  out,  then  I  will  give  you  thirty 
sheets  and  thirty  change  of  garments:  BuT  if  ye  cannot 
declare  it  me,  then  shall  ye  give  me  thirty  sheets  and  thirty 
change  of  garments.  And  they  said  unto  him,  Put  forth 
thy  riddle,  that  we  may  hear  it.  And  he  said  unto  them, 
Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong 
came  forth  sweetness.  And  they  could  not  in  three  days 
expound  the  riddle.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  seventh 
day,  that  they  said  unto  Samson's  wife,  Entice  thy  husband 
that  he  may  declare  unto  us  the  riddle,  lest  we  burn  thee 
and  thy  father's  house  with  fire :  have  ye  called  us  to  take 
that  we  have  ?  is  it  not  so  ?  And  Samson's  wife  wept  be- 
fore him,  and  said,  Thou  dost  but  hate  me,  and  lovest  me 
not }  thou  hast  put  forth  a  riddle  unto  the  children  of  my 
people,  and  hast  not  told  it  me.  And  he  said  unto  her, 


SCRIPTURAL    NARRATIVE.  15 

Behold,  I  have  not  told  it  my  father  nor  my  mother,  and 
shall  I  tell  it  thee  ?  And  she  wept  before  him  the  seven 
days,  while  their  feast  lasted  :  and  it  came  to  pass  on  the 
seventh  day,  that  he  told  her,  because  she  lay  sore  upon 
him :  and  she  told  the  riddle  to  the  children  of  her  people. 
And  the  men  of  the  city  said  unto  him  on  the  seventh  day 
before  the  sun  went  down,  What  is  sweeter  than  honey  ? 
and  what  is  stronger  than  a  lion  ?  And  he  said  unto  them, 
If  ye  had  not  plowed  with  my  heifer,  ye  had  not  found  out 
my  riddle.  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon  him,  and 
he  went  down  to  Ashkelon,  and  slew  thirty  men  of  them  and 
took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  garments  unto  them 
which  expounded  the  riddle.  And  his  anger  was  kindled, 
and  he  went  up  to  his  father's  house.  But  Samson's  wife 
was  given  to  his  companion,  whom  he  had  used  as  his 
friend. 

But  it  eame  to  pass  within  a  while  after,  in  the  time  of 
wheat  harvest,  that  Samson  visited  his  wife  with  a  kid ;  and 
he  said,  I  will  go  in  to  my  wife  into  the  chamber.  But  her 
father  would  not  suffer  him  to  go  in.  And  her  father  said, 
I  verily  thought  that  thou  hadst  utterly  hated  her ;  there- 
fore  I  gave  her  to  thy  companion  :  is  not  her  younger  sister 
fairer  than  she  ?  take  her,  I  pray  thee,  instead  of  her. 

And  Samson  said  concerning  them,  Now  shall  I  be  more 
blameless  than  the  Philistines,  though  I  do  them  a  displea- 
sure.  And  Samson  went  and  caught  three  hundred  foxes, 
and  took  firebrands,  and  turned  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  fire- 
brand in  the  midst  between  two  tails.  And  when  he  had 
set  the  brands  on  fire,  he  let  them  go  into  the  standing  corn 
of  the  Philistines,  and  burnt  up  both  the  shocks,  and  also  the 
standing  corn,  with  the  vineyards  and  olives.  Then  the 
Philistines  said,  Who  hath  done  this  ?  And  they  answered, 
Samson,  the  son-in-law  of  the  Timnite,  because  he  had  takeo 


16  THE   OIANT  JUDGE. 

his  wife,  and  given  her  to  his  companion.  And  the  Philis- 
tines came  up,  and  burnt  her  and  her  father  with  fire. 

And  Samson  said  unto  them,  Though  ye  have  done  this, 
yet  will  I  he  avenged  of  you,  and  after  that  I  will  cease. 
And  he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great  slaughter : 
and  he  went  down  and  dwelt  in  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam. 

Then  the  Philistines  went  up,  and  pitched  in  Judah,  and 
spread  themselves  in  Lehi.  And  the  men  of  Judah  said, 
Why  are  ye  come  up  against  us  ?  And  they  answered,  To 
bind  Samson  are  we  come' up,  to  do  to  him  as  he  hath  done 
to  us.  Then  three  thousand  men  of  Judah  went  to  the  top 
of  the  rock  Etam,  and  said  to  Samson,  KnOwest  thou  not 
that  the  Philistines  are  rulers  over  us  ?  What  is  this  that 
thou  hast  done  unto  us  ?  And  he  said  unto  them,  As  they 
did  unto  me,  so  have  I  done  unto  them.  And  they  said 
unto  him,  We  are  come  down  to  bind  thee,  that  we  may 
deliver  thee  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines.  And  Samson 
said  unto  them,  Swear  unto  me,  that  ye  will  not  fall  upon 
me  yourselves.  And  they  spake  unto  him,  saying,  No; 
but  we  will  bind  thee  fast,  and  deliver  thee  into  their  hand : 
but  surely  we  will  not  kill  thee.  And  they  bound  him  with 
two  new  cords,  and  brought  him  up  from  the  roek. 

And  when  he  came  unto  Lehi,  the  Philistines  shouted 
against  him :  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  mightily 
upon  him,  and  the  cords  that  were  upon  his  arms  became 
as  flax  that  was  burnt  with  fire,  and  his  b&nds  loosed  from 
off  his  hands.  And  he  found  a  new  jawbone  of  an  ass,  and 
put  forth  his  hand  and  took  it,  and  slew  a  thousand  men 
therewith.  And  Samson  said,  With  the  jawbone  of  an  ass, 
heaps  upon  heaps,  with  the  jaw  of  an  ass  have  I  slain  a 
thousand  men.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  he  had  made 
an  end  of  speaking,  that  he  cast  away  the  jawbone  out  of 
his  hand,  and  called  that  place  Ramath-lehi. 

And  he  was  sore  athirst,  and  called   an   the  Lord  and 


SCRIPTURAL   NARRATIVE.  17 

said,  Thou  hast  given  this  great  deliverance  into  the  hand 
of  thy  servant :  and  now  shall  I  die  for  thirst,  and  fall  into 
the  hand  of  the  uncircumcised  ?  But  God  clave  an  hollow 
place  that  was  in  the  jaw,  and  there  came  water  thereout , 
and  when  he  had  drunk,  his  spirit  came  again,  and  he  re- 
vived :  wherefore  he  called  the  name  thereof  En-hak-kore, 
whiclt  is  in  Lehi  unto  this  day.  And  he  judged  Israel  in 
the  days  of  the  Philistines  twenty  years. 

Then  went  Samson  to  Graza,  and  saw  there  an  harlot,  and 
went  in  unto  her.  And  it  was  told  the  G-azites,  saying, 
Samson  is  come  hither.  And  they  compassed  him  in,  and 
laid  wait  for  him  all  night  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  were 
quiet  all  the  night,  saying,  In  the  morning,  when  it  is  day, 
we  shall  kill  him.  And  Samson  lay  till  midnight,  and 
arose  at  midnight,  and  took  the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the 
city,  and  the  two  posts,  and  went  away  with  them,  .bar  and 
all,  and  put  them  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried  them  up 
to  the  top  of  an  hill  that  is  before  Hebron. 

And  it  came  to  pass  afterwards,  that  he  loved  a  woman 
in  the  valley  of  Sorek,  whose  name  was  Delilah.  And  the 
lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up  unto  her,  and  said  unto 
her,  Entice  him,  and  see  wherein  his  great  strength  lieth, 
and  by  what  means  we  may  prevail  against  him,  that  we 
may  bind  him  to  afflict  him  :  and  we  will  give  thee  every 
one  of  us  eleven  hundred  pieces  of  silver.  And  Delilah 
said  to  Samson,  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  wherein  thy  great 
strength  lieth,  and  wherewith  thou  mightest  be  bound  to 
afflict  thee.  And  Samson  said  unto  her,  If  they  bind  me 
with  seven  green  withs  that  were  never  dried,  then  shall 
I  be  weak,  and  be  as  another  man.  Then  the  lords  of  the 
Philistines  brought  up  to  her  seven  green  withs  which  had 
not  been  dried,  and  she  bound  him  with  them.  Now  there 
were  men  lying  in  wait,  abiding  with  her  in  the  chamber. 
And  she  said  unto  him,  The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Sam- 

0*  ** 


18  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

son.  And  he  brake  the  withs,  as  a  thread  of  tow  is  broken 
when  it  toucheth  the  fire.  So  his  strength  was  not  known. 
And  Delilah  said  unto  Samson,  Behold,  thou  hast  mocked 
me,  and  told  me  lies :  now  tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  wherewith 
thou  mightest  be  bound.  And  he  said  unto  her,  If  they 
bind  me  fast  with  new  ropes  that  never  were  occupied,  then 
shall  I  be  weak,  and  be  as  another  man.  Delilah  therefore 
took  new  ropes,  and  bound  him  therewith,  and  said  unto 
him,  The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson.  And  there 
were  Hers  in  wait  abiding  in  the  chamber.  And  he  brake 
them  from  off  his  arms  like  a  thread.  And  Delilah  said 
unto  Samson,  Hitherto  thou  hast  mocked  me,  and  told  me 
lies  :  tell  me  wherewith  thou  mightest  be  bound.  And  he 
said  unto  her,  If  thou  weavest  the  seven  locks  of  my  head 
with  the  web.  And  she  fastened  it  with  the  pin,  and  said 
unto  him,  The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson.  And  he 
awaked  out  of  his  sleep,  and  went  away  with  the  pin  of  the 
beam,  and  with  the  web.  And  she  said  unto  him,  How 
canst  thou  say,  I  love  thee,  when  thine  heart  is  not  with 
me  ?  Thou  hast  mocked  me  these  three  times,  and  hast  not 
told  me  wherein  thy  great  strength  lieth.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  she  pressed  him  daily  with  her  words,  and  urged 
him,  so  that  his  soul  was  vexed  unto  death,  that  he  told 
her  all  his  heart,  and  said  unto  her,  There  hath  not  come  a 
razor  upon  mine  head ;  for  I  have  been  a  Nazarite  unto 
God  from  my  mother's  womb  :  if  I  be  shaven,  then  my 
strength  will  go  from  me,  and  I  shall  become  weak,  and  be 
like  any  other  man.  And  when  Delilah  saw  that  he  had 
told  her  all  his  heart,  she  sent  and  called  for  the  lords  of 
the  Philistines,  saying,  Come  up  this  once,  for  he  hath 
shewed  me  all  his  heart.  Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines 
came  up  unto  her,  and  brought  money  in  their  hand.  •  And 
she  made  him  sleep  upon  her  knees ;  and  she  called  for  a 
loan,  and  she  caused  him  to  shave  off  the  seven  locks  of  his 


At* 


SCRIPTURAL    NARRATIVE.  19 

head ;  and  she  began  to  afflict  him,  and  his  strength  went 
from  him.  And  she  said,  The  Philistines  be  npon  thee, 
Samson.  And  he  awoke  out  of  his  sleep,  and  said,  I  will 
go  out  as  at  other  times  before,  and  shake  myself.  And  he 
wist  not  that  the  Lord  was  departed  from  him.  But  the 
Philistines  took  him  and  put  out  his  eyes,  and  brought  him 
down  to  Gaza,  and  bound  him  with  fetters  of  brass ;  and  he  ^ 
did  grind  in  the  prison-house. 

Howbeit  the  hair  of  his  head  began  to  grow  again  after 
he  was  shaven.  *Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  gathered  \  ^? 
them  together  for  to  offer  a  great  sacrifice  unto  Dagon  their  j^ 
god,  and  to  rejoice  ;  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  delivered 
Samson  our  enemy  into  our  hand.  And  when  the  poople 
saw  him,  they  praised  their  god  :  for  they  said,  Our  god  Vjj 
hath  delivered  into  our  hands  our  enemy,  and  the  destroyer  K 
of  our  country,  which  slew  many  of  us.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  their  hearts  were  merry,  that  they  said,  Call  for 
Samson,  that  he  may  make  us  sport.  And  they  called  for 
Samson  out  of  the  prison-house^  and  he  made  them  sport: 
and  they  set  him  between  the  pillars.  And  Samson  said 
unto  the  lad  that  held  him  by  the  hand,  Suffer  me  that  I 
may  feel  the  pillars  whereupon  the  house  stand eth,  that  I 
may  lean  upon  them.  Now  the  house  was  full  of  men  and 
women ;  and  all  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  were  there ; 
and  there  were  upon  the  roof  about  three  thousand  men  and 
women,  that  beheld  while  Samson  made  sport.  And  Sam- 
son called  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  0  Lord  God,  remember 
me,  I  pray  thee,  and  strengthen  me,  I  pray  thee,  only  this 
once,  0  God,  that  I  may  be  at  once  avenged  of  the  Philis- 
tines for  my  two  eyes.  And  Samson  took  hold  of  the  two 
middle  pillars  upon  which  the  house  stood,  and  on  which  it 
was  borne  up,  of  the  one  with  his  right  hand,  and  of  the 
other  with  his  left.  And  Samson  said,  Let  me  die  with  the 
Philistines.  And  he  bowed  himself  with  all  his  might  ; 


20  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

and  the  house  fell  upon  the  lords,  and  upon  all  the  people 
that  were  therein.  So  the  dead  which  he  slew  at  his  death 
were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life.  Then  his 
brethren  and  all  the  house  of  his  father  came  down,  and 
took  him  and  brought  him  up,  and  buried  him  between 
Zorah  and  Eshtaol  in  the  burying-place  of  Manoah  his  fa- 
ther. And  he  judged  Israel  twenty  years. 


THE    HEROIC    JUDGES    AND   THEIR   TIMES.  21 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   HEROIC   JUDGES   AND   THEIR   TIMES. 

"  Know  ye  the  land  where  the  cypress  and  myrtle, 

Are  emblems  of  deeds  that  were  done  in  their  clime, 
Where  the  rage  of  the  vulture,  the  love  of  the  turtle, 
Now  melt  into  sorrow,  now  madden  to  crime?" 

Bride  of  Abydos. 

And  what  shall  I  more  say?  for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gid- 
eon, and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthah ;  of  David  also,  and 
Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets  :  who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms, 
wrought  righteousness.  *  *  *  *  And  these  all,  having  obtained  a 
good  report  through  faith,  received  not  the  promise  :  God  having  pro- 
vided some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made 
perfect.— Heb.  xi.  32-40. 

As  the  life  and  exploits  of  Israel's  GIANT  JUDGE  are 
described  in  "  the  Book  of  Judges/'  and  as  he  was  himself 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  this  extraordinary  class  of 
men,  it  may  be  well  to  say  something  of  these  heroic  Judges 
and  of  their  times.  Their  history  is  an  important  link  in 
Israel's  ancient  story.  For  though  some  .of  the  facts  here 
recorded  seem  not  to  have  a  direct  religious  interest,  still  as 
fragments  of  family  and  national  history,  they  are  exceed- 
ingly valuable.  It  was  important,  at  least  until  the  Messiah 
should  come,  to  preserve  the  distinctive  tribal  lines  and 
history  of  the  Hebrews.  And  even  in  our  times,  apparently 
unimportant  facts  recorded  in  the  earlier  books  of  the  Bible 
have  been  of  great  value  in  ethnology  and  philology,  and 
for  the  general  history  of  mankind. 


22  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

In  the  history  of  the  Judges,  we  have  a  striking  picture 
of  the  disorder  and  dangers  of  a  country  without  a  well 
established  government.  In  those  days  when  the  people 
had  no  "vision,"  that  is,  when  they  were  without  prophets 
to  instruct  them ;  and  when  there  was  no  government,  but 
"  every  one  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes  :" — 
then,  "the  highways  were  unoccupied,  and  the  travellers 
walked  through  by-ways."  There  is  no  liberty,  where  there 
is  no  law.  There  is  no  protection  for  property  "  throughout 
the  purple  land,  where  law  secures  not  life." 

The  Hebrew  word  Shophetim,  Judges,  is  from  the  verb  to 
judge,  discern,  command,  rule,  execute  punishment.  In  the 
East,  judging  and  ruling  were  generally  connected.  And 
sitting  in  judgment  is  still  one  of  the  principal  duties  of  an 
oriental  sovereign.  The  term  Judges,  when  used  in  the 
Bible  in  reference  to  those  heroes  that  God  raised  up  be- 
tween the  days  of  Joshua  and  David  to  be  the  saviours  of 
their  country,  is  equivalent  to  Eulers.  And  this  is  the  com- 
mon use  of  the  term  Judges,  in  the  days  of  Samson,  and  up 
to  the  gift  of  a  King.  It  appears  from  the  life  of  Samuel, 
however,  and  also  from  Judges  iv.  5,  that  these  Judges  did 
sometimes  act  as  judges  merely,  and  not  as  judges  and  ex- 
ecutioners of  their  own  sentences.  The  main  idea  then  of 
these  Judges  is  not  the  literal  one  of  a  judge  seated  on  a 
judicial  bench,  and  pronouncing  the  sentence  of  the  law  in 
criminal  cases.  They  were  chief  magistrates.  The  Judge 
for  the  time  being  was  the  head  of  the  nation.  Jehovah 
was  the  King ;  the  government  was  a  Theocracy,  and  the 
Judges  were  his  Lieutenant  Generals,  or  his  Deputies. 

The  Judges  of  Israel  were,  however,  neither  hereditary, 
nor  chosen  by  the  people.  They  were  in  every  case  raised 
up  on  some  extraordinary  occasion  to  execute  some  divine 
judgment  upon  Israel's  wicked  oppressors,  or  to  fulfil  some 
specific  mission.  They  kept  no  court,  had  no  standing  army, 


THE   HEROIC   JUDGES  AND  THEIR   TIMES.  23 

and  received  no  pay.  They  had  neither  the  pomp,  nor  the 
ceremony  usually  attached  to  the  head  of  a  State.  Nor  had 
they  the  power  to  make  any  new  laws,  nor  to  change  the  old 
ones.  Their  mission  was  altogether  a  peculiar,  a  distinctive 
one.  In  the  history  of  civil  rulers  they  stand  out  in  solitary 
prominence  as  Melchisedec  does  in  the  history  of  the  priest- 
hood. Their  only  authority  was  to  execute  the  laws,  and 
effect  such  deliverance  of  the  chosen  people  from  their  hea- 
then oppressors  as  God  himself  should  direct.  Officially, 
they  were  without  father  or  mother  and  without  offspring. 
They  had  no  predecessors,  and  they  left  no  successors. 

The  government  of  the  Judges  continued  about  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years.  And  if  Samuel  be  considered  as  a 
prophet  as  well  as  a  judge,  and  Eli  a  priest  as  well  as  a 
judge,  we  may  consider  Samson  as  the  last  of  that  peculiar 
order  of  governors.  Samuel,  it  is  true,  judged  Israel,  but 
he  did  not  begin  to  act  as  a  judge  till  forty  years  of  age, 
and  during  the  greater  part  of  that  time,  Saul  was  king. 
It  is,  therefore,  with  much  propriety,  that  the  "  first  book 
of  Samuel  is  otherwise  called  the  first  book  of  Kings."  The 
history  of  Samson  occupies  four  out  of  the  twenty  chap- 
ters of  the  book  of  Judges,  and  is  more  fully  written  out 
than  that  of  any  of  the  others.  His  history  is  surprising 
even  in  an  extraordinary  age.  In  several  particulars  he 
was  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Hebrew  Judges.  And 
though  never  at  the  head  of  an  army,  nor  on  a  throne,  nor 
prime  minister  to  any  earthly  potentate,  it  were  difficult, 
perhaps  impossible,  to  name  another  Hebrew  that  loved  his 
country  with  more  fervid  devotion,  or  served  it  with  a  more 
hearty  good  will,  or  who  was  a  greater  terror  to  its  enemies. 
I  know  not  that  there  is  any  biography  so  completely  charac- 
teristic, or  more  tragical  than  his.  It  is  full  of  stirring  in. 
cidents  and  most  marvellous  achievements.  His  whole  life 
consists  of  a  good  beginning  pre-announced,  and  a  relapse 


24  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

from  early  piety  into  a  long,  dark,  and  terrible  conflict,  in 
which  we  find  a  mother's  piety  and  a  father's  faith  in  battle 
array  with  constitutional  and  besetting  sins ;  but  at  last  they 
prevail,  and  the  sun  that  shone  on  him  in  his  youth  shines 
on  him  in  his  old  age  and  gilds  his  dying  exploits  with  ter- 
rible glory.  He  seems  to  us  like  a  volcano,  continually 
struggling  for  an  eruption.  In  him  we  have  all  the  elements 
of  an  epic ;  love,  adventure,  heroism,  tragedy.  Nor  am  I 
aware  that  any  Bible  character  has  lent  to  modern  literature 
a  greater  amount  of  metaphor  and  comparison  than  the  story 
of  Samson.  The  "  Samson  Agonistes"  of  Milton  has  been 
pronounced  by  the  highest  authority  to  be  "  one  of  the  noblest 
dramas  in  the  English  language."  It  reminds  us  of  the 
mystic  touches  and  shadowy  grandeur  of  Rembrandt,  while 
Rembrandt  himself  and  Rubens,  Guido,  David,  and  Martin 
are  indebted  to  this  heroic  Judge  for  several  of  their  im- 
mortal pieces. 

I  am  aware  that  some  look  upon  Samson  merely  as  a  strong 
man,  just  as  they  do  upon  Solomon  as  a  wise  man  ;  but  find 
nothing  supernatural  in  either.  They  forget  that  it  was  the 
special  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  that  taught  Solomon 
wisdom  above  all  other  men.  They  do  not  consider  that  the 
moving  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  gave  extraordinary  strength 
to  Samson  for  special  purposes.  It  does  not  appear  that 
his  stature  or  limbs  were  of  gigantic  proportions.  His 
strength,  on  the  contrary,  was  "  hung  in  his  hair,"  the 
weakest  part  of  his  physical  frame,  to  show  that  it  was  the 
special  gift  of  God.  It  is^  therefore,  wholly  in  regard  to  his 
strength,  I  have  called  him  the  "  Giant  Judge  of  Israel." 
His  peculiarities  are  not  remarkable,  because  of  any  thing 
that  we  perceive  foreign  to  fallen  humanity  in  the  kind  or 
composition  of  his  passions  and  besetting  sins,  but  in  the 
fierceness  and  greatness  of  their  strength.  Saul,  the  son  of 
Kish,  was  of  the  people  and  among  them — he  was  of  their 


THE    HEROIC   JUDGES  AND    THEIR   TIMES.  25 

flesh  and  bones  j — but  he  was  a  head  and  shoulders  above 
them.  It  is  just  so  with  Samson.  Ordinary  men  now  have 
the  same  besetting  sins — passions  of  the  same  character,  but 
they  are  diminutive  in  comparison  with  him,  and  are  with- 
out his  supernatural  strength. 

It  must  be  confessed  in  the  outset,  that  Samson's  spiritual 
history  is  very  skeleton-like.  We  have  only  a  few  time- 
worn  fragments  out  of  which  to  construct  his  inner  man. 
Now  and  then,  and  sometimes  after  long  and  dreary  inter- 
vals, and  from  out  of  heavy  clouds  and  thick  darkness,  we 
catch  a  few  rays  of  hope,  and  rejoice  in  some  signs  of  a  re- 
viving conscience  and  of  the  presence  of  God's  Spirit.  Pos~ 
sibly  no  part  of  the  Bible  has  given  occasion  for  more  rail- 
lery than  the  book  of  Judges.  And  perhaps  no  name  in 
that  book  has  given  point  to  more  infidel  jests  than  that  of 
Samson.  "  His  character  is  indeed  dark  and  almost  inex- 
plicable. By  none  of  the  Judges  of  Israel  did  God  work 
so  many  miracles,  and  yet  by  none  were  so  many  faults  com- 
mitted." As  no  Bible  hero  is  so  remarkable  for  strength, 
so  none  are  so  remarkable  for  weakness,  as  Samson.  His 
faults  and  passions  were  like  himself.  The  Apostle,  how- 
ever, in  Hebrews  xi,  settles  the  question  as  to  his  personal 
piety  and  salvation  at  last,  by  enrolling  him  in  the  list  of 
heroes  distinguished  for  faith  and  glorious  deeds.  But  as 
an  old  writer  has  said,  he  must  be  looked  upon  as  "rather 
a  rough  believer."  A  recent  Scotch  author  (Rev.  Dr.  Bruce 
in  his  biography  of  Samson)  divides  his  life  into  three  peri- 
ods. The  first,  his  youth,  when  all  was  prosperous  and  he 
was  truly  pious.  This  period  extends  to  his  marriage,  when 
his  second  period  begins,  which  is  marked  by  his  fall,  and  is 
very  dark.  In  which  period,  like  David,  he  made  sad  ship- 
wreck of  the  faith — "  and  strangely  enough  from  the  very 
same  blinding,  and  beguiling,  and  peculiarly  brutalizing  lust; 
and  yet  like  David  also,  and  some  others,  he  escaped  at  the 
3 


26  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

last  as  by  a  hair's  breadth— the  Lord  forgiveth  his  iniquity, 
whilst  yet  he  took  vengeance  on  his  inventions."  The 
third  period  he  denominates  the  period  of  his  penitence, 
recovery,  and  triumphant  death.  This  period,  the  revival  of 
his  graces  and  gifts  as  a  child  of  God,  begins  with  the  grow- 
ing of  his  hair  in  the  prison.  This  author  dwells  chiefly 
upon  Samson's  history  as  an  illustration  of  Christian  experi- 
ence. He  endeavours  to  illustrate  the  continual  struggle 
between  good  and  evil  in  the  human  soul,  sometimes  the  one 
predominating,  and  then  again  the  other,  the  evil  drawing 
down  its  own  punishment,  and  the  good  at  last  prevailing. 
He  makes  Samson  a  striking  instance  of  "  the  delivery  of 
the  body  to  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the 
spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Now 
it  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  the  strugglings  of  "  this  mighty 
and  marvellous  Israelite,"  with  his  wild  passions  and  his 
better  resolutions — his  conflicts  with  most  hurtful  lusts  and 
convictions  of  duty,  do  well  illustrate  the  Apostle's  warfare 
between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit  \  but  it  may  be  fairly  ques- 
tioned whether  this  is  the  main  design  of  his  history,  as  it 
is  given  to  us."  According  to  Dr.  Bruce,  Samson  was  not  so 
much  a  type  of  Christ,  as  of  the  conscience  of  a  believer 
quickened  by  his  Spirit,  and  contending  for  the  mastery  over 
those  carnal  passions  which  are  well  represented  by  the 
tyrant  and  treacherous  Philistines.  I  like  not  to  dwell  on 
Samson  as  a  type  of  Christ.  We  must  at  least  guard  against 
removing  him  so  far  from  us  by  reason  of  his  uniqueness  of 
character,  as  to  forget  that  he  was  a  man  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves.  We  must  carefully  discriminate  in  his  life 
between  what  God  moved  him  to  do,  and  what  his  sinful  pas- 
sions moved  him  to.  I  fear  a  disposition  to  neglect  the  Old 
Testament  characterizes  our  times.  True  indeed,  most  peo- 
ple in  Christendom  suppose  themselves  well  .acquainted  with 
the  character  of  Samson.  They  at  least  know  he  is  called 


THE    HEROIC   JUDGES   AND   THEIR   TIMES.  27 

the  strongest  man,  and  that  be  killed  a  lion,  slept  in  Delilah's 
lap,  and  killed  a  great  many  Philistines  at  his  death.  This 
they  may  know,  and  yet  not  be  able  to  form  a  true  estimate 
of  his  character,  or  draw  from  his  history  those  important 
lessons,  which  it  teaches.  Doubtless  many  have  read  Sam- 
son's history  just  as  they  do  that  of  "  the  Scottish  Chiefs/' 
or  of  King  Philip.  They  have  found  in  Samson  the  won- 
derful deeds  of  an  Ishmaelite,  ever  ready  for  a  border  fray, 
fiery  and  fierce,  and  of  extraordinary  strength,  and  nothing 
more.  This  were  to  lose  very  much  of  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
certainly  designed  us  to  learn  from  this  memoir.  The  Lord 
raised  up  this  heroic  Israelite  for  us.  He  threw  into  him  a 
miraculous  composition  of  strength  and  energy  of  passion, 
and  called  them  forth  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  our 
teacher.  And  besides  being  a  hero,  he  was  a  believer,  a  child 
of  God,  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ,  his  church,  which 
is  his  kingdom.  God  raised  him  up  for  our  learning,  and 
made  him,  as  it  were,  "  a  mirror  or  molten  looking-glass,"  in 
which  we  may  see  some  of  our  own  leading  features  truth- 
fully portrayed,  only  on  an  enlarged  scale.  And  if  we  diifer 
from  him,  or  from  other  great  sinners,  who  but  God  hath 
made  us  to  differ  ?  If  in  any  thing  we  are  not  so  bad  as 
others,  it  is  not  owing  to  ourselves,  but  to  the  sovereign 
grace  of  God. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  in  studying  such  a  biography  as 
this  of  the  Giant  Judge  of  Israel,  that  we  should  not  expect, 
and  could  not  indeed  have,  any  other  than  one  that  records 
infirmities  and  short  comings,  as  well  as  virtues  and  heroic 
deeds.  Samson  was  a  man — a  sinful  man.  His  life  and 
exploits  are  recorded  in  an  honest,  truth-telling  memoir. 
This  point  comes  up  again  in  the  next  chapter  in  consider- 
ing the  design  and  method  upon  which  the  earlier  biblical 
memoirs  were  written. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  then  by  any  means,  that  in  making 


28  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

mention  of  Samson,  the  Apostle  approved  of  all  that  he  did. 
Nor  indeed  of  any  of  the  other  champions  of  faith  whom  he 
names.  All  that  he  commends  is  his  faith.  All  that  he 
here  speaks  of  is  the  faith  of  the  aneieats.  It  was  sot  his 
purpose  to  give  a  full  account  of  these  worthies.  He  was 
not  writing  their  history.  He  was  not  called  upon  in  this 
connection  to  speak  of  their  imperfections  j  but  to  show  that 
however  great  their  faults  may  have  been,  they  were  remark- 
able for  their  confidence  in  God.  By  reciting  this  muster 
roll  of  the  old  champions  of  faith,  the  Apostle  sought  to 
awaken  the  courage  of  the  Hebrew  believers  of  his  day,  by 
bidding  them  remember  what  faith  had  achieved  for  men 
and  women  like  them  113  ages  past. 

"All  these/7  the  apostle  says,  "  obtained  a  good  report 
through  faith."  That  is,  OB  account  of  their  confidence  in 
God.  They  were  accepted  of  him,  and  are  commended  by 
all  the  pious.  The  procuring  cause  of  pardon  and  accept- 
ance from  the  beginning,  was  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  This  they  received  by 
faith — not  the  reality,  but  the  promise.  They  believed  the 
promise  as  if  it  were  fulfilled.  They  did  not  actually  see 
its  fulfilment,  but  they  did  look  forward  in  perfect  confidence 
to  its  fulfilment,  and  consequently  received  the  blessings 
promised  as  if  the  great  promise  had  actually  been  fulfilled. 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
I  We  can  make  our  lives*  sublime, 

And  departing,  leave  behind  us 

Footprints  on  the  sand  of  time. 
Footprints  that  perhaps  another, 

Sailing  o'er  life's  solemn  main, 
A  forlorn  and  shipwrecked  brother, 

Seeing,  shall  take  heart  again. 
Let  us,'  then,  be  up  and  doing, 

With  a  heart  for  any  fate  j 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 

Learn  to  labour  and  to  wait. 

Longfellow' '»  Paalm  of  Life. 


THE   STORY   A  REVELATION   INSPIRED.  29 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   STORY   A   REVELATION   INSPIRED. 

"  This  book, — this  glorious  book,  on  every  line 
Marked  with  the  seal  of  high  Divinity ; 
On  every  leaf  bedewed  with  drops  of  love 
Divine." 

Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — 
2  Pet.  i.  21. 

All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that 
the  man  of  God  [a  Christian  man]  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished 
unto  all  good  works. — 2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17. 

IT  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  consider  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  in  general,  nor  to  offer  proofs  of  the 
inspiration  of  God  in  the  Bible.  Our  undertaking  is  a  more 
limited  one.  In  the  previous  chapters,  we  have  a  wonder- 
ful story  of  heroic  times.  And  though  it  is  remarkable 
even  in  a  collection  of  marvellous  records,  still  it  belongs  to 
a  series  of  biographies  that  we  are  accustomed  to  look  upon 
with  great  reverence.  In  so  far  then  as  we  may  be  able  to 
explain  in  what  sense  the  recorded  story  of  the  life  and  ex- 
ploits of  Israel's  Giant  Judge  is  a  revelation  from  God,  made 
in  a  supernatural  way,  and  transferred  to  human  language 
by  an  extraordinary  or  miraculous  degree  of  inspiration,  we 
shall  not  only  justify  the  reverence  with  which  we  are  wont 
to  treat  this  sacred  story,  but  establish  the  claims  of  all  the 

Bible  biographies  to  a  like   respect.     The  story   then,  in 
3* 


30  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

hand,  of  the  heroic  Hebrew  Judge  —  is  it  an  inspired 
record,  and  on  what  plan,  and  for  what  purpose  were  such 
biblical  memoirs  written  ?  It  is  proper  to  consider  these 
questions,  since  there  are  those  who  still  assert  that  the 
Old  Testament  is  either  totally  unconnected  with  the  New, 
except  by  a  mere  chance,  or  that  it  has  ceased  to  be  of  any 
importance.  This  assertion  argues  either  ignorance,  or  a 
false  conception  of  spiritual  Christianity,  or  an  inordinate 
zeal  to  support  certain  dogmatic  views  of  religion.  Still  it 
is  thrust  upon  us  so  often  and  with  so  much  urgency,  that 
it  is  well  for  us  to  consider  the  place  of  Bible  biographies, 
especially  of  the  earlier  times,  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

Why  should  we  then  as  Christians  study  the  Old  Testa- 
ment? 

I.  In  answering  this  question,  it  were  perhaps  enough  to 
say,  that  the  doctrines  and  precepts,  principles  and  duties 
which  are  taught  in  and  illustrated  by  the  lives  of  Bible 
characters,  are  found  to  be  the  best  manual  in  existence  for 
developing  and  strengthening,  refining,  elevating,  and  giving 
expansion  to  our  mental  faculties.  There  is  nothing  equal 
to  the  theology  of  the  Bible  to  strengthen  and  purify  the 
human  mind.  The  divinity  of  the  Scottish  Knox  has  given 
breadth  and  power  to  the  Scottish  mind.  He  gave  Scot- 
land her  schools  and  an  open  Bible,  and  Scotland  has  well 
improved  his  gifts.  It  is  "  from  scenes  like  these/'  so 
touchingly  described  in  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night, — "  Old 
Scotia's  grandeur  springs,  that  makes  her  loved  at  home, 
revered  abroad."  And  the  Cotter's  Saturday  Night  re- 
minds us  that  the  late  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  in  one  of  his 
essays,  which  are  his  ablest  productions,  quotes  with  appro- 
bation, the  remark  of  Gilbert  Burns,  brother  of  the  poet, 
that  "  it  was  not  from  the  parish  school  that  the  people  of 
Scotland  derived  their  higher  education,  but  from  the  parish 
pulpits.  It  was  to  their  ministers,  not  to  their  schoolinas- 


THE   STORY   A   REVELATION   INSPIRED.  31 

ters,  that  the  Scotch  owed  both  their  sober  and  their  severe 
thinking."  "  Never,"  continues  Mr.  Miller,  "  was  the 
strong  common  sense  of  Gilbert  Burns,  which  was  as  much 
a  gift  of  nature  as  the  genius  of  his  brother,  more  unequi- 
vocally manifested  than  in  his  remark  on  the  real  source, 
whence  the  Scotch  people  had  derived  of  old  the  tone  of 
high  moral  sentiment  by  which  they  were  characterized, 
and  their  severe  semi-metaphysical  east  of  thinking.  An 
earnest  Calvinistic  ministry  had  been  their  real  teachers. 
We  well  remember  a  class  of  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
men,  now  nearly  nil  passed  ;iway,  who  had  received  their 
only  teaching  from  the  church  and  from  the  Bible;  nor  can 
we  avoid  regretting,  when  we  think  how  much  they  formed 
the  salt  of  the  Scottish  people,  that  the  class  should  be  so 
well  nigh  an  extinct  one.  The  pabulum  on  which  they  fed 
and  grew  strong  still  survives,  however;  and  when  we  hear 
from  the  pulpit,  powerful  and  original  thinking  that  awakens 
thought  in  others,  while  at  the  same  time  it  ensures  the 
diffusion  of  an  element  of  earnestness,  we  recognize  in  it  the 
old  teaching,  which  made  the  people  of  Scotland  what  they 
were  when  at  their  best."  Yes,  the  pabulum  still  survives 
and  if  we  mistake  not,  the  class  so  much  admired  by  the 
geologist  is  by  no  means  "  an  extinct  one."  There  are 
those,  and  not  a  few,  in  his  country  and  in  our  own,  who 
still  adhere  to  "  the  old  way  of  teaching" — who  read  and 
expound  the  word  of  God,  and  cause  the  people  to  under- 
stand its  meaning. 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  influence  the  pulpit  once  had 
almost  entirely  to  itself,  is  now  shared  with  the  Sabbath- 
^school,  the  colporteur,  and  the  printing  press;  still  the 
"power  of  the  pulpit"  in  preventing  crime,  and  in  promot- 
ing virtue  and  religion,  is  very  great.  Like  the  life-giving 
principle  of  the  air,  it  is  everywhere,  and  yet  scarcely  re- 
cognized. Doubtless  there  is  ivuch  inefficiency  in  the  pul- 


32  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

pit,  but  is  there  none  in  the  pews  ?  But  few  ministers  of 
the  gospel  are  as  able  and  successful  as  they  should  be,  but 
are  the  hearers  of  the  word  efficient  doers?  The  main 
business  of  the  pulpit  is  to  bring  the  Divine  word  home  to 
the  conscience — into  living  contact  with  the  mind  and  heart 
of  the  hearers.  And  if  we  are  not  greatly  mistaken,  the 
best  way  to  do  this,  is  "  the  old  way  of  teaching,"  that  is. 
of  teaching  the  people  as  the  prophets  and  apostles  and  our 
blessed  Lord  himself  taught  them.  Doctrines,  precepts, 
promises,  threatenings,  commands,  and  duties  are  taught  in 
the  scriptures  by  biographies,  or  memoirs  and  parables.  The 
chequered  life  of  man  is  made  to  teach  and  illustrate  what 
we  are  to  believe  and  what  we  are  to  do,  that  we  may  inherit 
eternal  life.  The  biographies  of  the  Bible  are  living  lessons. 
They  are  not  perfect  as  pictures,  but  true  to  the  life,'giving 
the  blemishes  as  well  as  the  beauties.  The  Judges  of  Is- 
rael, and  all  the  heroes  that  lived  before  and  since  Agamem- 
non are  nothing  to  us,  unless  we  recognize  them  to  be  amen 
of  like  passions  with  ourselves" — "  our  loftier  brothers,  but 
one  in  blood."  To  read  or  preach  of  the  thousands  who 
have  lived  before  us,  "  in  the  gray  dawn  of  time,"  as  if  we 
were  reciting  some  unmeaning  hearsay  story,  is  to  fail  al- 
together of  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit 
in  causing  the  biographies  of  the  Bible  to  be  written.  The 
Hebrew  historians,  by  one  single  touch,  one  little  incident, 
chronicle  the  state  of  a  man's  mind  or  a  period  of  his  life, 
and  expose  at  one  view  the  naked  anatomy  of  the  human 
heart.  There  are  no  such  biographical  memoirs  anywhere 
else  as  we  have  in  the  Bible.  As  studies  of  the  natural 
history  of  man's  inner  life,  they  challenge  our  highest  atten- 
tion. It  is  for  us  to  draw  warning  and  encouragement  from 
the  lives  of  holy  men  of  old,  who  did  battle  for  the  right, 
both  against  themselves  and  the  world,  and  who  sometimes 
fell,  and  then,  after  many  a  struggle,  rose  again  to  the  con- 


THE    STORY   A   REVELATION    INSPIRED.  33 

flict,  and  after  a  life-long  quarrel  with  sin  and  the  enemies 
of  God,  gloriously  triumphed.  If  we  read  their  lives  aright, 
as'  we  work  at  the  "  naming  forge  of  life,"  we  shall 

"  Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 
To  suffer  and  be  strong." 

A  studied  depreciation  of  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  ever  marked  the  course  of  rationalism  in  the  old 
world,  and  is  one  of  the  most  unfavourable  symptoms  of  the 
theological  movements  of  our  own  country,  especially  of  New 
England,  under  the  lead  of  such  men  as  Parker  and  Emer- 
son. It  is  not  enough  to  take  out  of  them  all  true  evange- 
lism. The  inspiration  of  the  prophets  is  made  nothing  more 
than  the  inspiration  of  genius,  such  as  is  common  to  an  artist, 
a  poet,  or  an  orator.  On  the  contrary  we  hold  that  the  scrip- 
tures are  of  God  in  the  highest  sense  of  inspiration,  and 
that  they  testify  of  Christ  and  of  eternal  life  through  him. 
Some  heretics  in  ancient  times  held  that  the  Old  Testament 
was  the  work  of  a  secondary  evil  principle  or  deity,  that 
was  in  perpetual  warfare  with  the  eternal  fountain  of  good.* 

*  Marcion  and  his  followers  rejected  the  Old  Testament  altogether. 
Schleiennacher  and  his  school  deny  its  inspiration.  Some  of  them  even 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  "  an  owl  is  as  much  inspired  as  Isaiah  was."  They 
all  contend  that  there  is  no  higher  inspiration  than  "  Christian  conscious- 
ness." It  is  obvious  whither  all  this  tends.  The  result  is  the  same, 
whether  we  rely  on  man's  "  inner  light,"  "  religious  sentiment,"  "  religious 
intentions,"  "  spiritual  insight,"  or  "  Christian  consciousness."  If  these 
or  any  of  them  be  supreme,  then  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apos- 
tles are  no  more  inspired  than  are  the  recorded  views  and  feelings  of 
Bunyan  and  Payson,  or  of  Christians  generally.  And  if  so,  we  are  with- 
out any  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  manners.  What  we  have  regarded  as 
a  revelation  supernaturally  made  is  nothing  better  than  the  light  of  na- 
ture. Indeed,  natural  and  revealed  religion  become  to  us  one  and  the 
same.  The  English  and  the  French  deists  of  the  last  century  were  but 
little,  if  at  all,  further  from  the  truth,  than  Newman  and  Parker,  and  the 
Neologists  of  Germany  in  general. 


34  Till:  GIANT    JUDGE. 

According  to  this  view  the  Jewish  system  was  to  be  regarded 
as  essentially  defective  and  positively  evil — carnal  and  de- 
basing. Consequently  Christ  came  not  to  fulfil,  but  to  de- 
stroy— and  in  fact,  the  New  Testament  is  something 
wholly  new,  different  from,  and  in  contradiction  to,  the  Old 
Testament.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  first  converts 
from  Judaism  to  Christianity,  insisted  on  the  continued  obli- 
gations of  the  law  of  Moses,  not  only  on  converted  Jews, 
but  also  on  converted  Gentiles.  They  insisted  on  circum- 
cision as  well  as  baptism — on  obedience  to  Moses  as  well  as 
to  Christ  in  order  to  salvation.  This  error  the  great  apostle, 
who  wrote  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  has  most  happily  cor- 
rected, and  so  corrected  as  to  show  us  the  use  of,  and  the 
difference  between,  the  two  dispensations. 

SPENCER*  and  his  followers  rob  the  Old  Testament  of  its 
Christianity,  and  not  a  few  evangelical  authors  on  the  other 
side  have  betrayed  an  inclination  to  over-estimate  the  per- 
fection of  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  Some  have  found  no 
types  of  Christ,  no  resurrection,  no  immortality  in  the  Old 
Testament ;  others  spiritualize  almost  everything  in  it. 

Both  extremes  are  to  be  avoided.  Ever  since  the  days 
of  ORIGEN,  the  cause  of  truth  has  been  more  or  less  em- 
barrassed by  allegorical  interpretations  of  scripture.  The 
fault,  in  our  judgment,  of  many  evangelical  writers  is  that 
they  find  types,  where,  oftentimes,  we  should  be  taught  only 
by  suggestion,  or  by  way  of  accommodation.  A  too  liberal 
or  a  too  literal  rule  of  interpretation  may  be  alike  erroneous. 
If  the  Protestant  enhances  the  distinction  between  the  law 
and  the  gospel,  the  Romanist  underrates  it.  And  both  have 

O       r       " 

*  See  Spencer's  work  De  Legibus  Hebroeurum.  In  answer  to  him 
see  Witsius  on  the  Covenants,  lib.  iv.  c.  11,  12.  Also  Calvin's  Tnstitutes) 
lib.  ii.  c.  10.  While  it  is  certainly  a  great  error  to  rob  the  Old  Testament 
of  its  Christianity,  it  is  an  error  of  not  less  magnitude  to  despoil  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  of  the  New  Testament,  by  unduly  pressing  analogies 
and  types  out  of  the  Old  upon  the  New. 


THE   STORY  A  REVELATION   INSPIRED.  35 

a  theory  to  support,  or  dogmatical  prepossessions  to  defend. 
The  true  view  is,  that  the  law  is  a  schoolmaster  to  bring  us 
to  Christ,  who  fulfilled  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  by  one 
offering  of  himself  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified.  See  Heb.  x.  12 — 14. 

There  are  types  as  well  as  prophecies,  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. But  every  incident  or  word  of  it  is  not  so  to  be  in- 
terpreted. The  Mosaic  economy  was  typical  and  prepara- 
tory to  the  gospel.  But  the  minutiae  of  the  temple,  the 
nails  and  badgers'  skins  of  the  tabernacle,  and  many  such 
things,  were  not  types.  A  brave  man  is  compared  to  a  lionj 
but  it  were  ridiculous  to  press  the  analogy,  and  figure  out 
his  resemblance  to  a  lion,  and  find  the  counterpart  of  the 
lion's  mane  and  claws.  An  indifference  to  revealed  truth, 
if  not  to  spiritual  religion,  lies  at  the  bottom  of  this  depre- 
ciation of  the  Old  Testament.  For  no  book  of  the  Bible  ia 
a  mere  dry  statement  of  the  past.  They  are  all  instinct 
with  life.  Even  the  list  of  hard  names  is  of  importance. 
Genealogical  tables  are  of  use  in  tracing  out  the  promises 
and  verifying  their  fulfilment.  Our  only  sure  guide  is  the 
written  word  of  God.  We  are  to  listen  to  what  God  has 
said — what  doctrines  and  duties  he  has  taught  in  the  lives 
of  holy  men  and  women  in  olden  times,  not  as  recorded  by 
fabulists,  but  as  recorded  by  men  moved  to  write  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  voice  of  all  antiquity  is  not  the  voice  of 
God.  The  voice  of  God  comes  to  us  with  authority  only 
as  revealed  by  his  holy  prophets  and  by  his 'own  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  and  his  apostles.  He  is  then  but  poorly  qualified  to 
appreciate  the  gospel,  or  to  teach  it  to  others  as  a  minister, 
or  Sabbath-school  teacher,  who  is  a  stranger  to  the  treasury 
of  truth  contained  in  the  Old  Testament.  Nor  are  the  nar- 
ratives of  the  Old  Testament  fit  only  to  instruct  adults. 
They  supply  the  best  material  for  impressing  on  the  mind 
of  childhood  the  lessons  of  our  holy  religion. 


36  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

We  have  the  authority  of  an  apostle,  that  whatsoever 
things  were  written  aforetime  by  Moses  and  the  prophets 
were  written  for  our  learning.  There  is  no  fact  recorded  in 
Bible  history  that  has  not  its  echo  still.  The  living  world 
is  but  the  recurring  cycles  of  the  past.  Many  of  the  actors 
on  the  stage  of  past  history,  are,at  this  moment  exercising 
a  great  influence  on  the  world.  Hearts  long  since  cold 
under  the  green  sod  have  sent  out  pulsations  that  are  now 
beating,  and  will  not  cease  till  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  of 
the  last  day.  They  being  dead  yet  speak — still  live  by 
their  influence  on  the  acting  generation,  who  will  transmit 
their  influence  to  the  generations  yet  to  come.  The  great 
and  good  of  all  past  ages  lived  for  us.  Abel  suffered  for 
us.  Abraham  was  tried  for  us.  The  patriarchs,  prophets, 
lawgivers,  and  wise  men  of  old,  "  the  noble  army  of  mar- 
tyrs"— all  lived  and  died  for  us.  Every  mother's  babe  in 
Christendom  is  at  this  moment  under  the  influence  of  the 
histories  of  the  Bible.  Whatsoever  was  done  and  said  from 
the  beginning,  is  impressing  its  influence  upon  our  hearts 
and  actions,  at  this  very  moment.  If  this  be  true  in  gene- 
ral, as  it  certainly  is,  then  the  biographies  of  the  earlier 
periods  of  the  Bible  are  worthy  of  our  serious  attention. 
They  reveal  the  existence  and  attributes  of  the  Creator, 
and  teach  us  how  men  and  women  like  ourselves  feared  and 
served  God. 

II.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  in  the  next  place,  that  we 
understand  on  what  plan  or  method,  and  with  what  design, 
these  earlier  biographies  of  the  Bible  were  written.  We 
believe  there  is  a  God,  a  personal,  a  living  God,  who  is  a 
Spirit,  infinite  and  eternal,  in  contradistinction  to  "  the  dead 
god  of  deism"  and  pantheism.  We  have  a  God  to  glorify 
and  enjoy,  as  well  as  a  soul  to  save.  And  to  enable  us  to  do 
this,  God  has  spoken  to  us.  He  has  come  down  to  us,  that 
we  may  go  up  to  him.  Our  Creator  has  come  down  to  us 


THE   STORY   A   REVELATION   INSPIRED.  37 

rn  various  ways  and  by  manifold  representations — by  appear- 
ing to  the  patriarchs  and  speaking  to  them  and  the  prophets 
in  several  ways,  and  last  of  all,  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ. 
Next  to  the  existence  of  God  in  importance  to  us,  is  the 
question  of  a  revelation  from  him  to  us  as  his  creatures.  If 
we  have  no  access  to  him— if  there  is  no  communication 
between  us  and  our  Creator,  we  are  of  all  creatures  the  most 
miserable ;  our  higher  nature  and  nobler  aspirations  are  then 
only  to  make  us  susceptible  of  miseries  the  brute  can  never 
know.  But  "  God,  who,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  man- 
ners, spake  in  times  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets, 
hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son,  whom  he 
hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  by  whom  also  he  made 
the  worlds;  who  is  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the 
express  image  of  his  person."  In  this  God- man,  the  infi- 
nite and  the -finite  meet  in  perfect  harmony. 

In  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the  New,  we  have  both 
a  revelation  from  God,  and  a  record  in  which  that  revelation 
is  enveloped.  God  has  spoken  to  us  and  we  have  a  reliable 
record  of  what  he  has  said.  Hume  and  Gibbon,  Voltaire, 
D'Alembert,  Diderot,  and  their  associates  and  followers  di- 
rected their  attacks  against  Christianity  itself,  but  for  the 
last  fifty  years,  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel  have  chiefly  aimed 
to  destroy  the  authority  of  its  written  records.  They  have 
not  busied  themselves  so  much  in  denying  the  existence  or 
necessity  of  revealed  religion,  as  in  seeking  to  destroy  all 
dependence  upon  its  records,  or  the  interpretation  of  it. 
They  tell  us  quite  patronizingly,  revealed  religion  is  de- 
sirable. It  is  a  good  thing,  if  we  could  only  know  what  it 
is.  Now  we  maintain  that  we  have  not  merely  the  idea  of 
Christianity  in  the  Bible,  but  we  have  Christianity  itself,  and 
we  have  a  suitable,  intelligible  record  of  it,  and  of  what  it  is. 
We  may  not  only  know  that  revealed  truth  is,  but  we  may 
know  what  it  is. 
4 


38  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

Beyond  all  controversy,  the  great  question  of  our  cby 
turns  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  Divine  word.  It  is 
important  then  for  us  to  be  acquainted  with  the  history  and 
proofs  of  Divine  revelation,  and  to  know  that  the  Bible  con- 
tains that  revelation.  The  unerring  message  is  invested  in 
an  infallible  record.  The  Divine  Messenger  became  incar- 
nate in  a  perfect  human  organism.  The  revelation  is  hea- 
venly, while  the  record,  or  history,  of  it  is  earthly;  but 
this  record  was  made  by  Divine  direction.  And  if  the 
Creator  has  really  made  a  communication  to  our  race,  we 
should  have  a  right  to  expect  that  he  would  take  care  that  it 
be  made  in  such  a  way  as  to  embody  and  bring  down  to 
human  apprehension  just  what  he  had  to  say  to  us,  and 
that  he  would  cause  such  a  record  of  his  revelation  to  be 
made  and  preserved,  as  would  make  known  to  the  different 
generations  of  mankind  his  will  for  their  salvation.  Has 
God  spoken  to  us  ?  Can  we  find  out  exactly  what  he  has 
said  ?  According  to  our  view,  these  questions  are  not 
to  be  separated.  For  it  is  an  impeachment  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  and  benevolence  to  suppose  the  former  without 
the  latter,  and  the  latter  of  course  implies  the  former. 
At  the  risk  of  repeating,  we  shall  dwell  somewhat  on 
these  questions.  The  authority  of  councils,  the  orthodoxy 
of  creeds,  and  the  infallibility  of  popes,  are  of  no  consequence 
in  comparison  with  the  subject  of  inspiration,  nor  ha^e  we 
any  rule  by  which  to  settle  such  questions,  until  we  have 
found  infallibility  in  the  Divine  word.  If  our  Creator  has  not 
revealed  himself  to  us,  we  have  no  religion  at  all.  And  if 
he  has  revealed  himself,  but  allowed  the  record  of  his  own 
revelation  to  be  so  made  that  we  cannot  know  what  it  is  he 
has  revealed,  then  we  are  made  conscious  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  a  true  religion,  and  painfully  conscious  too  of  our 
need  of  it,  but  left  totally  unable  to  find  it,  or  to  know  cer- 
tainly what  it  is.  But  to  make  our  answer  as  broad  and  as 


THE   STORY   A   REVELATION    INSPIRED.  39 

direct  as  our  questionings,  we  say  God  has  spoken  from 
heaven  to  us,  and  we  may  know  with  as  much  absolute  cer- 
tainty as  we  can  know  anything,  bot]^  that  God  has  spoken 
to  us  and  what  it  is  he  has  said  to  us.  Our  Creator  has 
revealed  his  will  to  us  for  our  salvation,  and  we  may  know 
what  it  is,  and  what  that  salvation  is.  In  the  Bible  we  have 
an  external  revelation,  and  a  real  inspiration,  and  in  the 
teachings  of  the  same  Spirit  of  God  by  whom  this  reve- 
lation and  inspiration  have  been  made,  we  have  also  an  in- 
ward and  subjective  illumination.  The  concurrence  of  faith 
in  the  former,  with  personal  experience  of  the  latter,  consti- 
tutes us  true  Christians. 

Revelation  and  inspiration  are  distinct ;  but  as  we  receive 
these  terms,  the  one  implies  the  other.  By  a  revelation  we 
mean  a  communication  of  truth  from  God  to  man.  By  in- 
spiration we  mean  that  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  the  prophets 
and  apostles  who  received  communications  from  God  to  write 
them  out,  transferring  God's  thoughts  that  were  put  into 
their  minds  by  his  Spirit  into  human  language,  and  so  trans- 
ferring them  as  not  to  mix  any  error  with  them,  or  make 
any  mistake  in  the  use  of  language.  We  believe,  then, 
that  the  Bible  is  God's  own  inspired  word,  and  that  it  is  an 
all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  conduct.  It  does  not  follow, 
however,  that  all  the  revelations  that  God  has  been  pleased 
to  make  have  been  accompanied  with  the  gift  of  inspiration 
to  make  a  record  of  them.  If  we  mistake  not,  some  have 
had  revelations  in  the  highest  sense,  who  did  not  write  them 
out.  And  some  have  been  inspired  to  write,  who  were 
endowed  with  power  to  work  miracles,  and  yet  probably 
received  no  revelations  themselves.  But  all  the  revealed 
truths  of  holy  scripture  have  been  transferred  to  human 
language  by  the  inspiration  of  God.  It  seems  to  us  that 
one  of  the  prolific  causes  of  the  confusion  that  is  found  in 
many  writers  on  this  subject  is  the  want  of  distinct  and 


40  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

clear  statements  as  to  what  they  mean  by  revelation  and  in- 
spiration. Another  cause  doubtless  is  that  many  authors 
undertake  to  explain  too  much,  especially  as  to  the  modus 
of  God's  making  known  his  will  to  us.  If  we  are  sure  of 
the  fact,  may  we  not  rest  content  in  the  assurance  that  In- 
finite Wisdom  employed  the  right  "  divers  manners,"  to 
make  communications  to  our  race  ?  We  hold  therefore  that 
the  sacred  writers  received  the  truths  which  they  have  re- 
corded from  God  in  a  supernatural  way,  and  that  they  were 
commanded  by  God  himself  to  make  the  transcript  of  these 
truths  for  us,  and  were  so  directed  and  assisted  in  making 
this  transcript  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  have  in  this 
transcript  not  only  a  true  and  reliable  record  of  God's 
thoughts  concerning  us,  but  the  very  thoughts  themselves. 

The  great  question  then,  is  not  "to  distinguish  between 
the  revelation  and  the  record  and  history  of  that  revelation, 
but  to  get  at  what  the  revelation  is — what  does  it  reveal  ? 
It  is  of  no  use  to  believe  that  the  revelation  is  itself  divine, 
if  its  enveloping  record  is  erroneous,  for  in  that  case,  we 
can  never  be  sure  that  we  have  a  revelation  of  God's  will  at 
all.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  able  a  writer  as  Soame 
Jenyns  in  exalting  the  importance  of  the  "  Internal  Evi- 
dences of  the  Christian  Religion,"  should  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  make  so  marked  a  distinction  between  the  reve- 
lation that  God  has  made  to  us,  and  the  history  we  have  of 
that  revelation.  He  contends  that  we  have  a  heavenly 
message,  but  "  it  is  enclosed  in  a  fallible  earthly  case,  by 
which  it  is  indeed  polluted."  And  yet,  ne  says  the  human 
errors  and  imperfections  of  the  history  of  this  revelation 
do  not  affect  its  divine  origin.  u  A  diamond,  though  found 
in  a  bed  of  mud,  is  still  a  diamond,  nor  can  the  dirt  which 
surrounds  it,  depreciate  its  value  or  destroy  its  lustre."  In 
the  translation,  versions  and  transcriptions  of  the  ancient 
writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  in  the  different 


THE   STORY    A   REVELATION    INSPIRED.  41 

editions  of  our  holy  Scriptures,  there  are  verbal  inaccura- 
cies. If  there  were  not,  they  have  been  prevented  by  a 
continued  miracle.  And  it  is  doujotless  true,  that  the  sa- 
cred writers  have  recorded  some  things  that  they  did  not 
need  supernatural  influence  to  be  taught  them.  If  Luke  has 
copied  his  genealogy  of  the  mother  of  our  Lord  from  the 
Hebrew  tables  in  common  use  at  Jerusalem  or  Nazareth,  he 
did  not  require  any  other  special  divine  assistance  to  do  it, 
than  to  originate  the  conception  of  so  doing.  And  Paul 
could  tell  his  name,  and  how  he  had  left  his  cloak  and 
parchments  at  Troas,  without  the  miraculous  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  But  even  in  recording  such  natural  events, 
or  circumstances  of  common  life,  as  they  could  have  re- 
corded if  they  had  not  been  prophets  and  apostles,  they 
were  so  guided  and  overruled,  as  to  record  nothing  but  what 
the  Holy  Spirit  saw  it  best  to  have  recorded  for  the  end  in 
view.  We  have  therefore  a  revelation  from  God,  and  such 
a  record  and  history  of  that  revelation  as  God  himself 
caused  to  be  written  by  his  Holy  Spirit.  The  Bible  is  the 
word  of  the  one,  only,  living  and  true  God.  We  cannot 
believe  that  it  is  "  a  heap  of  mummery  and  priestcraft/' 
nor  that  the  Creator  should  make  a  revelation  of  himself  to 
man,  and  yet  not  provide  suitably  for  the  communication  of 
that  revelation.  It  is  to  call  in  question  his  sincerity  and 
wisdom,  to  say  that  he  has  revealed  certain  doctrines  for  the 
salvation  of  mankind,  and  yet  made  no  provision  for  an  in- 
fallibly valid  vehicle  of  that  revelation.  In  the  Scriptures, 
then,  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  we  have  the  revela- 
tion of  God,  and  the  record  of  it,  and  it  is  comparatively 
easy  to  distinguish  and  separate  the  perfect  from  the  imper- 
fect of  that  record.  It  surely  is  no  argument  against  the 
inspiration  of  Isaiah,  that  some  words  in  our  translation 
should  be  spejled  differently  in  different  editions;  or  that 
there  should  be  a  difference  in  punctuation  and  such  other 


42  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

minutiae.  The  essential  integrity  of  the  sacred  text  has 
been  preserved.  The  message  and  the  vehicle  of  the  mes- 
sage are  from  God.  What  God  has  revealed  has  been  writ- 
ten for  us  by  his  direction.  The  sacred  writers  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  write  as  they  did.  What  then  have 
they  written,  and  for  what  purpose  did  the  Holy  Ghost 
move  them  to  write  ?  The  Bible  is  no  more  without  a  de- 
sign, a  plan,  and '  a  unity  than  is  the  universe.  Though 
composed  of  two  great  departments,  and  of  many  different 
books  written  by  different  authors,  stretching  over  about 
two  thousand  years,  and  living  and  writing  at  different 
periods  and  different  places,  still  the  Bible  is  not  a  series  of 
detached  and  independent  documents,  mechanically  strung 
together  by  the  hand  of  a  compiler,  nor  is  it  a  farrago  of  heter- 
ogeneous fragments  accidentally  combined.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  a  bona  fide  history.  It  is  pervaded  from  begin- 
ning to  end  by  one  dominant  idea.  One  great  specific  pur- 
pose is  in  view  from  the  first  word  of  Genesis  to  the  end  of 
the  Revelation  of  John.  On  what  plan  then  was  the  Bible 
written  and  for  what  purpose  ? 

Some  tell  us  that  the  Old  Testament  in  particular  is  a 
collection  of  romances — that  the  patriarchs  and  judges  of 
Israel  were  mere  Bedouin  or  nomadic  chiefs,  like  the  Sheikhs 
of  the  modern  Arabs,  and  that  the  germ  of  truth  was  fur- 
nished by  their  lives,  which  the  writer  has  taken,  and  worked 
up  after  the  most  approved  manner  of  fiction.  The  Old 
Testament,  according  to  this  view,  is  nothing  but  a  biogra- 
phy of  some  wandering  chieftains,  written  in  the  style  of 
oriental  exaggeration.  Some  who  are  ashamed  of  such  a 
theory  as  this,  modify  it,  by  telling  us,  the  lives  of  the 
patriarchs  and  judges  were  never  meant  to  be  received  as 
.true  histories  at  all,  but  as  mere  poetical  descriptions  of  life 
and  manners  of  early  times,  somewhat  after  the  manner  of 
the  Eclogues  and  Bucolics.  What  then  becomes  of  the  his- 


THE    STORY   A    REVELATION    INSPIRED.  43 

toric  memoirs,  national  festivals  commemorative  of  actual 
events,  and  of  contemporary  and  subsequent  allusions  in  the 
history  of  other  nations,  and  of  the  superiority  of  their  style 
und  of  their  doctrines,  and  of  this  whole  ckss  of  proofs  and 
subjects? 

Another  view  is  that  the  history  of  the  patriarchs  and 
judges  is  strictly  true,  but  not  of  them  as  individuals ;  but 
as  a  history  of  races  and  revolutions.  Abraham,  Joseph, 
and  Samuel  are,  according  to  this  view,  not  the  names  of 
individuals,  but  ideal  types  of  principles  or  of  races. 
They  are  myths,  that  is,  "  ideas  clothed  in  facts."  And 
these  myths  were  invented  to  explain  subsequent  events. 
Just  as  if  the  history  of  the  beginning  of  the  American 
Revolution  about  the  stamp  act  and  the  tax  on  tea,  and  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  had  been  invented  to  account  for  the 
present  fact  that  the  United  States  is  an  independent  nation 
and  separate  from  Great  Britain ;  and  that  Washington 
was  not  an  individual  at  all,  but  a  name  invented  and  made 
to  represent  the  embodiment  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  our  an- 
cestors. It  is  certainly  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  a  theory 
to  say  that  the  ancients  were  as  palpable  individualities  as  we 
are  ourselves.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  refine  and  sublimate 
their  flesh  and  blood  and  personal  actions  into  mere  myths. 
Does  not  primeval  history  deal  with  individualities  as  truly 
as  the  history  of  our  own  times  ?  The  same  philosophy  that 
makes  Homer  or  Socrates,  Moses  or  Abraham  a  myth, 
would  make  all  the  past  nothing  but  a  myth  to  us,  and 
ourselves  myths  to  our  successors.  The  true  view  is  a 
happy  deliverance  from  such  artificial  and  erroneous  sys 
terns.  It  is  this  :  The  history  of  Bible  characters  was  re- 
corded for  the  moral  improvement  of  mankind,  by  furnish- 
ing examples  of  virtue  and  vice,  the  one  rewarded  and  the 
other  punished.  In  and  along  with  this  history  we  have  an 
embodiment  of  Divine  Revolution,  so  that  the  doctrines  anc. 


41  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

principles  revealed  and  the  duties  taught  are  illustrated  by 
living  examples,  and  the  well-being  of  those  that  do  well, 
and  the  ill-being  of  those  that  do  evil  are  set  forth  as  an 
encouragement  to  do  well,  and  a  warning  to  cease  from  evil. 
And  the  revelation  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
history  and  record  of  that  revelation  are  all  so  made  as  to 
be  introductory  to  the  Gospel  dispensation.  Moses,  the 
law,  and  the  prophets  prepared  the  way  for  the  coming  of 
Christ. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  if  the  history  of  Bible  charac- 
ters is  a  true  biography  of  individuals,  we  shall  have  a  full 
face  view  of  men  and  women,  as  they  really  were.  Accord- 
ingly, it  is  not  a  profile  picture  we  have,  but  a  true  full  face. 
Their  faults  are  recorded  as  faithfully  as  their  virtues.  There 
is  no  attempt  made  by  the  sacred  writers  to  justify  or  ex- 
plain away  every  appearance  of  a  fault  in  the  conduct  of 
those  of  whom  they  write,  nor  is  there  any  tampering  with 
the  principles  of  morals,  to  excuse  them.  And  if  the  spe- 
cific purpose  of  the  writings  of  Moses  was  to  prepare  the 
chosen  people  for  their  covenant  relation  to  Jehovah,  and 
through  them  to  prepare  the  ancient  church  and  the  world 
for  the  coming  of  the  long  promised  Messiah,  still  it  re- 
mains true  that  we  have  a  truthful  record  of  individuals, 
and  of  divine  communications  made  to  them. 

The  main  design  of  the  record  that  we  have  of  the  patri- 
archs, and  of  the  chosen  people  of  God,  was  to  teach  man- 
kind that  it  was  true,  that  God  had  always  in  some  way 
kept  up  a  communication,  with  the  human  race.  By  acts, 
promises,  commands,  and  manifest  tokens  of  the  Divine 
presence,  the  great  idea  was  alive  in  the  mind  of  some  one, 
who  in  that  particular,  was  a  representative  and  depositary 
for  his  race,  that  God  was  still  accessible  to  his  creatures — 
that  he  was  manifesting,  and  would  still  more  clearly  mani- 
fest, himself  to  mankind.  First  he  called  Abraham,  then 


THE   STORY  A   REVELATION   INSPIRED.  45 

the  promise  was  to  his  descendants,  and  in  process  of  time 
they  became  a  great  people,  and  to  them  were  committed  the 
oracles  of  God.     As  mankind  multiplied  and  spread  abroad, 
the  line  became  more  distinctive ;  but  as  the  time  drew  near, 
clearer  and  clearer  intimations  were  given  of  the  extension 
of  the  blessings  of  Abraham's  covenant  seed  by  the  coming 
and  kingdom  of  the  great  Messiah.     Of  necessity  therefore 
the  history  of  the  chosen  people  who  were  the  depositary  of 
the  divine  oracles  must  be  a  record  of  gracious  and  provi- 
dential interpositions,  as  well  as  of  individual  verities.    We 
should  expect  a  priori  to  find  in  it  a  supernatural  element, 
prophecy  and  miracle,  theophanies  or  divine  appearances  in 
human  form,  as  well  as  a  record  of  the  accidents  of  human- 
ity in  communion  with  the  Deity.     Now  it  would  be  un- 
natural if  there  had  been  no  imperfections  to  record  in  the 
lives  of  the  patriarchs,  judges,  prophets,  and  kings  of  Israel. 
And  if  they  had  not  been  men  of  like  passions  with  our- 
selves, or  even  worse,  there  had  been   no  such  display  of 
sovereignty  in  selecting  them,  as  would  correct  their  pride. 
The  intrinsic  weakness  of  the  vessel  is  clearly  shown,  that 
it  may  be  confessed  that  it  was  an  act  of  pure  sovereignty 
that  chose  them  as  the  channels  of  divine  grace.     Often- 
times their  own  views  and  cherished  wishes  were  thwarted. 
Abraham's  hopes  in  Ishmael,  Isaac's  in  Joseph  were  disap- 
pointed.    The  promised  seed  came  not  in  the  line  of  either. 
The  prophetic   preeminence   was  lodged  elsewhere.     The 
patriarchs  received  special  divine  favours,  not  'because  they 
were  perfect — not  because  they  were  better  than  all  the  rest 
of  their  cotemporaries.     It  may  be  doubted,  speaking  after 
the  manner  of  men,  if  Melchisedek  was  not  more  entitled 
to  the  distinction  of  being  the  progenitor  of  the  chosen  race 
than  Abram  of  the  Chaldees. 

At  least,  as  it  was  not  a  reward  for  extraordinary  piety 
that  the  patriarchs  received  such  favours,  so  neither  was  it 


46  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

p 

because  of  their  transgressions,  but  in  spite  of  them.  It 
was  not  for  their  sakes,  but  for  a  far  higher  and  greater  pur- 
pose. And  as  a  corrective  of  corruption  and  pride — of  des- 
pondency and  presumption,  a  faithful  narrative  has  been 
given  of  them  as  men,  and  the  Divine  sovereignty  is  mani- 
fested in  their  salvation,  and  in  the  manner  of  their  treat- 
ment, as  well  as  in  the  record  that  has  been  made  of  the 
revelation  made  to  them.  It  was  certainly  a  palpable  lesson 
to  the  Hebrew  and  a  powerful  corrective  of  his  pride,  to 
know  that,  if  through  David's  race,  he  was  of  Abraham, 
"the  friend  of  God/'  Ishmael  was  not  less  Abraham's 
son,  and  Esau  was  Jacob's  brother,  and  Moab  and  Ammon 
were  the  sons  of  Lot.  The  Bible  is  a  map  that  traces  all 
nations  to  a  common  origin,  and  shows  that  though  their 
lines  of  descent  are  continually  crossing  one  another,  still 
God  has  kept  his  chosen  people  distinct,  that  in  them  he 
might  show  forth  his  sovereignty,  and  the  severity  of  his 
judgments,  and  the  greatness  of  his  mercy. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  maintaining  this  design  of  Bible 
biography,  that  we  should  deny  that  there  were  any  other 
purposes  in  view.  Collateral  and  minor  ends  were  no  doubt 
answered  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  in  the  history  of  the 
Judges,  and  through  the  whole  and  by  the  whole,  the  ancient 
church  is  seen  as  a  type  of  that  which  was  to  come. 

While,  then,  it  is  a  painful  fact,  it  is  nevertheless  an  in- 
structive one,  that  we  have  no  perfect  biography  in  the 
Bible,  except  that  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Holy  One.  The 
patriarchs  were  all  guilty  of  some  dark  sin.  The  apostles 
were  not  blameless.  They  all  had  their  failings.  We  must 
remember,  however,  that  the  Bible  in  recording  the  sins  of 
patriarchs  and  apostles  does  not  approve  of  their  sinful  acts. 
The  Bible  does  not  tell  us  that  such  acts  were  the  perfect 
fruits  of  their  faith.  On  the  contrary,  their  creed  con- 
demned every  one  of  their  sins.  Their  errors  were  not  the 


THE   STORY   A   REVELATION   INSPIRED.  47 

consequences  of  their  religion,  but  in  spite  of  it.  It  was 
not  because  they  were  pious,  that  they  fell  into  such  griev- 
ous sins,  but  because  they  had  not  piety  enough  to  resist 
their  own  depraved  inclinations  and  the  devil's  temptations. 
And  in  the  fact  that  the  sacred  writers  describe  with  im- 
partiality both  the  faults  and  the  virtues  of  the  founders  of 
their  nation,  we  have  a  strong  proof  that  they  wrote  by  the 
inspiration  of  God.  As  Jews  they  were  exceedingly  proud, 
and  disposed  to  magnify  everything  that  belonged  to  their 
nation.  It  must  have  been  therefore  sorely  against  their 
natural  feelings  to  record  the  glaring  misdeeds  of  their 
fathers,  patriarchs,  judges,  and  prophets.  It  was  against 
their  national  pride  and  patriotism,  to  do  so ;  yet  we  find 
them  all  honest,  faithful,  and  impartial  in  their  memoirs  of 
the  heroes  of  their  nation.  Even  Morell,  in  his  Philosophy 
of  Religion,  admits  that  if  the  Spirit  of  God  was  in  the 
Hebrew  church,  "  then  the  writings  which  embody  this 
religious  state  are  inspired."  But  in  the  record  of  their 
religious  state  we  are  not  to  expect  "  a  higher  religion  or  a 
more  perfect  morality  than  actually  existed  in  those  times; 
hence  accordingly  the  imperfections  both  in  moral  and  reli- 
gious ideas  which  are  mixed  up  with  all  their  sacred  writ- 
ings."—Page  169. 

Finally.  It  is  not  true  therefore  that  the  Old  -Testa- 
ment is  a  failure.  It  accomplished  all  it  was  intended  to 
do.  It  is  not  true  that  the  Creator  set  up  one  religion  for 
one  race  in  the  age  of  the  patriarchs,  and  finding  that  it 
did  not  work  well,  tried  to  mend  it  by  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion, and  then  repaired  Moses's  institutes  by  the  prophets. 
This  is  the  mere  garrulity  of  obsolete  Deism.  The  religion 
of  the  Bible  is  one.  Christianity  is  as  old  as  the  creation. 
Abel  and  Noah  were  Christians  as  much  ns  Peter  and  Paul. 
They  looked  forward,  while  Peter  and  Paul  looked  back. 
They  anticipated  the  sacrifice  on  Calvary,  while  the  apostles 


48  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

and  all  Christians  since  the  incarnation  keep  it  in  remem- 
brance. God's  plan  of  revealing  redemption  from  the  be- 
ginning was  to  be  progressive  to  the  incarnation.  The  old 
dispensation  was  not  intended  to  be  effectual  or  final  in 
itself.  It  was  the  shadow  of  good  things  to  come.  And 
the  promises  fulfilled  in  us  are  as  necessary  as  the  promises 
given  to  the  patriarchs.  "  They  are  like  the  two  parts  of  a 
tally.  The  fathers  had  one  part  in  the  promises,  and  we 
the  other  in  the  fulfilment,  and  neither  would  have  been 
complete  without  the  other." — Barnes. 


SAMSON  S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.     49 


CHAPTER,    IV. 

SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED. 

"  Oh,  wherefore  was  my  birth  from  heaven  foretold 

Twice  by  an  angel  ? 

Why  was  my  breeding  ordered  and  prescribed 
As  of  a  person  separate  to  God, 
Designed  for  great  exploits  ?" — Samson. 

IN  a  previous  chapter  I  have  considered  at  some  length 
the  plan,  method,  and  design  of  the  biographies,  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, especially  of  the  earlier  ones,  and  have  attempted  to 
set  forth  briefly  the  true  nature  of  the  revelation  and  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible,  which  not  only  contains  the  word  of 
God,  but  is  the  word  of  God  itself.  This  has  been  deemed 
a  necessary  introduction  to  the  inspired  history  which  it  is 
our  purpose  now  to  explain,  because  confessedly  in  our  day, 
the  question  is,  What  does  the  Bible  reveal  ?  As  a  book,  as 
the  book,  and  as  a  volume  of  history  it  has  its  place  in  the 
world,  from  which  its  enemies  have  despaired  of  ever  being 
able  to  remove  it.  The  great  question  therefore  now  is, 
What  does  the-  Bible  say  ? — Can  we  arrive  at  a  reliable  in- 
terpretation of  the  Scriptures  ?  Most  certainly.  We  have 
a  revelation  from  God,  and  an  inspired  record  of  that  reve- 
lation. And  this  revelation  and  record  are  both  made  in 
such  a  way  that  we  may  know  the  will  of  God  for  our  salva- 
tion. As  we  believe  with  Bishop  Horsley  that  every  word 
of  the  Bible  is  from  God,  and  every  man  is  interested  in  it, 
so  it  is  our  purpose,  in  these  chapters,  to  give  a  condensed 


50  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

commentary  upon  the  text,  and  draw  from  it  the  life  of  our 
hero.  We  shall  introduce  to  you  therefore,  without  further 
ceremony,  Samson's  parents  receiving  the  promise  of  the 
hero-child. 

What  then  was  their  political  condition,  and  how  were 
they  circumstanced  as  to  their  neighbours  ? 

"  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil  again."  That  is, 
according  to  the  Hebrew,  "  added  to  commit  evil,"  the  evil 
of  the  idolatry  of  the  surrounding  heathen,  which  in  their 
case  was  both  treason  and  impiety.  "  And  the  Lord  deliv- 
ered them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  forty  years/' 

Here  are  three  points  to  be  noticed. 

1.  Who  were  the  Philistines? 

2.  In  what  sense  did  their  oppression  of  Israel  continue 
forty  years  ? 

3.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "And  the  Lord 
delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  V 

First.  The  Philistines  are  believed  to  have  been  a  colony 
from  Egypt.  The  old  name  Palestina  is  supposed  to  be  a 
corruption  of  Philistia.  If  so,  the  whole  land  of  promise 
derived  one  of  the  names  by  which  it  is  designated  from  a 
people  who  never  possessed  more  than  a  small  part  of  it. 
The  name  Palestina  was  first  applied  to  the  strip  of  country 
lying  along  the  Mediterranean  from  Lydda  to  Gaza;  then 
to  that  part  of  Canaan  between  the  sea  and  the  Jordan,  and 
finally  to  the  whole  country;  so  that  the  land  of  promise, 
Judea,  Canaan,  arid  Palestine  became  synonymous. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Philistines  in  the  days  of  the  judges, 
and  probably  in  the  days  of  the  patriarchs  also,  were  supe- 
rior to  any  of  their  neighbours.  They  were  certainly  a 
powerful  people  in  Abraham's  day.  This  we  should  expect, 
if  they  were  an  Egyptian  colony,  for  the  ancient  Egyptians 
were  altogether  the  most  civilized  and  the  best  people  of 
their  day.  Some  suppose  the  Philistines  were  the  Arabians 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        51 

expelled  from  Egypt,  and  known  as  "  the  ShepTierd  Kings," 
on  account  of  whose  depredations  on  Egypt,  every  shepherd 
was  reckoned  aan  abomination."  As  a  proof  of  their  supe- 
riority, we  may  observe  that  it  is  said  in  1  Samuel  xiii.  19- 
21,  that  in  the  beginning  of  Saul's  reign  no  smith  was  found 
in  Israel,  so  that  the  Israelites  were  obliged  to  go  down  to 
the  land  of  the  Philistines  to  sharpen  their  ploughshares, 
coulters,  axes,  and  mattocks. 

Even  after  David's  conquest,  we  read  of  the  Philistines 
as  a  powerful  people.  They  rose  in  rebellion  against  Jeho- 
,  and  made  great  slaughter  in  the  land  of  Judah  during 
the  reign  of  Ahab.  They  were  again  brought  into  subjec- 
tion by  Hezekiah.  The  prophets  Isaiah,  Amos,  Zephaniah, 
Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel  allude  to  them.  They  were  partially 
subdued  by  Esarhaddon,  king  of  Assyria,  and  afterwards  by 
the  king  of  Egypt,  and  still  more  reduced/  by  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, king  of  Babylon.  The  Persians,  and  then  the  Greeks 
under  Alexander  the  Great,  overran  their  country.  Some 
allusion  is  made  to  them  in  the  days  of  the  Asmonean 
Princes,  and  then  they  are  lost  from  history. 

From  Amos  ix.  7,  and  Jeremiah  xlvii.  4,  learned  men 
think  that  the  Caphtorim  were  descendants  of  Mizraim, 
father  of  the  Egyptians.  Gen.  x.  13,  14.  And  from  Deut. 
ii.  23,  it  appears,  the  Caphtorim  drove  out  the  Avim  from 
Hazerim  to  Azzah,  (that  is,  Gaza,)  and  dwelt  in  their  stead. 
If,  as  it  seems  to  us,  the  Casluhim,  Caphtorim,  Cherethites, 
and  Philistines  are  one  and  the  same  people,  then  we  should 
conclude  that  the  Philistines  were  from  Egypt,  and  that  the 
most  influential  part  of  them  came  to  the  main  land  of 
Syria  from  Crete.  As  the  Cherethites  and  the  Cretans  are 
tile  same,  are  we  not  authorized  to  identify  Caphtor  and 
Crete?  See  Ezekiel  xxv.  16;  Zeph.  ii.  5  ;  1  Samuel  xxx. 
14,  15.  From  the  history  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  it  appears 
that  their  guards  were  sometimes  Philistines,  who  were 


52  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

known  under  the  name  of  Pelethites  and  Cherethites.  These 
Pelethite  (Philistine)  guards  answered  to  the  Capigis  among 
the  Turks.  If  Caphtor  is  not  Crete,  where  is  it  ?  If  the 
Philistines  were  not  from  Egypt,  whence  came  they?  Does 
not  their  history  render  their  Egyptian  origin  very  probable  ? 
Some,  indeed,  think  that  Caphtor  was  in  the  Delta.  Dr. 
Olark  believes  it  identical  with  Cyprus,  but  gives  no  satis- 
factory reason.  If,  as  some  think,  Casluhim  meant  inhabi- 
tants of  Colchis,  then  they  were  of  Egyptian  origin ;  for 
almost  all  authors  agree  that  Colchis  was  peopled  from 
Egypt.  "And  Pathrusim,  and  Casluhim,  out  of  whom 
came  Philistim  and  Caphtorim."  Gen.  x.  14. 

The  government  of  the  Philistines  was  spasmodic  and 
changeable.  In  the  time  of  David  and  in  the  days  of  Abra- 
ham, they  had  a  king  ;  but  during  the  administration  of  the 
Judges,  they  had  a  government  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
Hebrews.  Their  five  great  cities  constituted  so  many  states, 
each  having  its  own  chief.  These  chiefs  are  in  our  text 
called  lords.  The  term,  seranim,  is  found  only  in  the  plural. 
Sometimes,  however,  they  are  found  confederate  together, 
making  common  cause  against  their  national  enemy.  They 
were  essentially  one  people.  They  had  the  same  laws  and 
religion,  and  spoke  the  same  language. 

Secondly.  It  is  probable  the  forty  years  date  from  the 
ascendency  of  their  enemies  as  recorded,  Judges  x.  6 — 8  j 
that  is,  from  Eglon  to  Samson,  including  the  twenty  years 
of  his  administration.  The  case  seems  to  stand  in  this  way  : 
the  Philistines,  who  were  the  most  powerful  of  all  their 
enemies  at  that  time,  had  tyrannized  over  the  Israelites  for 
twenty  years,  when  Samson  appeared  as  their  deliverer. 
During  this  twenty  years,  they  had  suffered  oppression  with- 
out any  redress,  or  any  one  to  deliver  them.  Samson  arose 
and  acted  as  their  champion  for  twenty  years,  which  make 
the  forty  years  of  the  text.  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        53 

ft 
that  the  chronology  and  dates  of  this  period  are  not  very 

clearly  stated.  The  connection  of  the  text  is  with  the 
period  occupied  in  the  previous  chapters.  In  the  beginning 
of  this  thirteenth  chapter,  the  writer  seems  to  turn  back, 
and  speak  again  of  the  previous  oppressions  of  his  country- 
men by  the  Philistines,  in  order  to  introduce  Samson  as 
their  champion.  And  hence,  he  says,  that  from  the  begin- 
ning of  this  particular  ascendency  of.  the  Philistines  to  the 
death  of  Samson,  when  he  finished  his  deliverance,  for  the 
Hebrews,  it  was  forty  years. 

Thirdly.  After  Shaingar's  exploits  as  recorded  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  the  Hebrews  had  a  little  repose.  But  now 
as  they  have  again  departed  from*  the  living  God,  so  the 
Philistines  are  again  commissioned  to  punish  them.  "  The 
Lord  delivered  them  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines." 
The  struggle  between  the  Hebrews  and  Philistines  was  one 
of  great  obstinacy  and  vicissitude.  It  was  a  border  war. 
Neither  was  able  wholly  to  subdue  the  other. 

In  rhe  second  chapter,  fourteenth  verse,  the  enemies  of 
God's  chosen  people  are  called  " spoilers;"  that  is,  robbers, 
such  as  were  plundering  the  Canaanites.  The  term  also 
means,  oppressors  in  general.  And  to  them  it  is  said,  "  the 
Lord  sold  the  Israelites/'  The  Hebrew  for  sold  signifies  "to 
alienate  the  possession  of  anything  for  a  valuable  considera- 
tion.'' It  is  sometimes  used,  however,  without  the  annexed 
idea:  of  an  equivalent  rendered.  When,  therefore,  as  in  this 
passage,  it  is  said,  "  the  angler  of  the  Lord  was  hot  against 
Israel,  and  he  sold  them  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies 
around  about  them/'  the  meaning  is  not  that  the  Lord  made 
the  Israelites  to  sin,  but  that  he  withdrew  from  them  his 
peculiar  protection,  and  that  he  did  this  because  of  their 
rebellion  against  him.  The  scriptures  often  represent,  the 
withdrawing  of  God's  favour  as  the  greatest  calamity  that 
can^befall  a  nation  or  an  individual.  See  Psa.  xliv.  13;  Isa. 


54  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

1.  1 ;  Deut.  xxxii.  30 ;  and  Judges  iii.  8 ;  and  iv.  8.  Moses 
had  told  them  that,  when  they  were  disobedient  to  the  Lord, 
he  would  withdraw  from  them  his  peculiar  presence,  which 
was  their  only  safety.  The  delivery  of  the  Hebrews,  there- 
fore, into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  was  nothing  but  the 
fulfilment  of  the  solemn  threatening  made  to  their  fathers 
and  repeated  to  themselves.  It  was  but  the  execution  of 
the  just  sentence  of  God,  who  was  then  their  king,  for  their 
disobedience.  Arid  to  secure  this  execution,  it  was  only 
necessary  for  the  divine  protection  to  be  withdrawn.  When 
left  to  themselves  they  were  an  easy  prey  to  the  warlike 
heathen.  The  absence  of  the  sun  leaves  us  in  darkness. 
God  is  not  the  author  of  sin,  nor  can  men  blame  their  Crea- 
tor with  their  evil  ways.  Learned  theologians  have  re- 
course to  various  intermediate  explanations  by  which  to 
reconcile  divine  sovereignty  and  man's  free  agency.  But  it 
is  quite  sufficient  for  me  to  know  that  God  is  sovereign  and 
luan  is  free.  And  though  I  were  not  able  to  perceive  how 
God  "  sold"  the  Israelites  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines, 
and  that  yet  it  was  for  their  own  sins,  or  how  Pharaoh  hard- 
ened his  own  heart,  and  that  God  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart; 
yet  still,  I  am  persuaded  of  both  facts,  and  hold  them  both 
to  be  consistent  with  ethical  and  mental  philosophy.  What 
if  there  be  a  transcendental  difficulty  in  such  a  harmony? 
Is  there  not  just  the  same  in  every  question  that  is  any  how 
connected  with  the  origin  of  moral  or  physical  evil  ?  It  is 
doubtless  true  that  God  is  sometimes  represented  in  the 
Bible  as  doing  what  he  only  permits.  And  yet  I  am  frank 
to  say  that  I  feel  no  necessity  for,  nor  do  I  take  pleasure  in 
dwelling  on  such  theological  distinctions.  I  see  not  that 
these  distinctions  between  a  divine  permission  and  a  divine 
appointment,  founded  on  the  vis  inertise  of  created  minds, 
which  are  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  are  really  any 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        55 

S 

relief.  These  metaphysical  distinctions  do  not  relieve  hu- 
man accountability  from  the  difficulties  that  mental  philo- 
sophy or  the  light  of  nature  throws  upon  it.  The  only  ex- 
planation of  the  difficulty  is  the  authority  of  God  for  the 
facts.  Nor  am  T  able'  to  find  such  distinctions  in  the  word 
of  God.  Where  do  the  scriptures  qualify,  or  attempt  to  ex- 
plain and  harmonize  the  statements  about  Pharaoh's  heart  ? 
Why  should  our  theologians  be  more  jealous  of  the  divine 
character  than  the  writers  of  the  Bible  ?  Where  is  our 
faith  ?  Is  not  God  just,  and  is  he  not  sovereign  ?  May  we 
not  rest  satisfied  with  the  facts  stated  by  inspired  men  upon 
the  authority  of  God  ? 

Is  it  not  true,  every  Lord's  day,  that  some  of  you  listen 
to  the  divine  word,  and  that  hearing  it  with  indifference,  or 
with  aversion,  you  refuse  obedience,  and  thereby  harden 
your  own  heart  under  the  very  process  that  was  graciously 
designed  to  soften  it?  And  in  doing  so,  are  you  not  still 
conscious  of  your  own  free  agency  ?  The  offer  of  pardon  is 
made  to  you  in  good  faith.  There  is  no  deficiency  in  it. 
The  sun  that  melts  one  substance  hardens  another;  not  be- 
cause the  sun  is  in  any  respect  another  and  a  different  body 
to  the  one  from  what  it  is  to  the  other.  The  ground  of  the 
different  and  diverse  effect  is  in  the  nature  of  the  body  acted 
upon  by  the  sun,  and  not  owing  to  any  change  or  defect  in 
the  orb  of  day.  Salvation  is  always  of  the  Lord,  and  per- 
dition is  always  the  work  of  the  sinner's  own  hand.  There 
is  nothing  between  the  greatest  sinner  and  salvation,  but 
his  own  unwillingness  to  accept  of  it  as  a  free,  sovereign 
gift  through  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  Redeemer. 

St.  Augustine  explains  this  crux  criticorum,  by  saying, 
"  God  does  not  harden  men  by  infusing  malice  into  them, 
but  by  not  imparting  mercy  to  them.  God  does  not  work 
this  hardening  of  heart  in  man,  but  he  is  said  to  harden 


56  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

him  whom  he  will  not  soften,  to  blind  him  whom  he  will 
not  enlighten,  and  to  repel  him  whom  he  will  not  call."* 

From  the  second  verse,  we  learn  that  Samson's  father  be- 
longed to  the  tribe  of  Dan,  and  the  town  of  Zorah,  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  border  town  between  the  territories 
of  Dan  and  Judah,  an'd  near  the  country  of  the  Philistines. 
Joshua  xv.  33.  Eusebius  says  Zorah  was  ten  miles  from 
Eleutheropolis.  Calmet  thinks  the  Zorites  of  1  Chron.  ii. 
54,  and  the  Zorathites  of  1  Chron.  iv.  2,  belonged  to  Man- 
oah's  town. 

"  Barren  and  bare  not"  is  the  usual  Hebrew  affirmation 
emphatic — "  Thou  shalt  die  and  not  live."  "  And  he  con- 
fessed and  denied  not."  "  But  Sarai  was  barren  :  she  had 
no  child." 

All  we  know  of  Manoah  impresses  us  with  the  belief, 
that  Josephus  is  correct  in  saying  that  he  was  a  man  of 
great  virtue,  had  but  few  equals,  and  was  without  dispute 
the  principal  person  of  his  country  in  his  day.  His  wife's 
name  is  not  recorded  in  the  Bible,  nor  by  Josephus.  He 
says,  however,  that  she  was  celebrated  for  her  beauty  and 
her  piety. 

Samson's  father  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  faith.  He 
is  the  only  one  of  whom  the  Bible  speaks,  that  received  a 
promise  from  an  angel  or  prophet  without  hesitation  or 
doubt.  Abraham  required  some  proof.  Sarah  "  laughed." 
The  Shunamite  woman  said  to  Elisha,  li  Nay  my  Lord,  do 
not  lie  unto  thine  handmaid."  Zachariah  said,  "  Whereby 
shall  I  know  this  ?"  and  was  struck  dumb  for  his  unbelief 
until  John  the  Baptist  was  born.  And  Mary,  the  mother 

*  Non  obdurat  Deus  impartiendo  malitiam,  sed  non  impartiendo  tnise- 
ricprdiam.  Non  operatur  Deus  in  homine  ipsam  duritiam  cordis,  sed  in- 
durare  eum  dicitur  quern  mollire  noluerit,  sic  etiam  excoecare  quern  illu- 
minare  noluerit,  et  repellere  eum  quern  noluerit  vooare. — Epis.  194,  ad 
Sixtum. 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        57 

of  our  Lord,  said,  "  How  can  this  thing  be  ?"  But  when 
Manoah  is  told  by  his  wife  and  then  by  the  angel  what  is 
to  take  place,  he  believed  without  any  hesitation,  and  only 
desired  to  be  instructed  as  to  how  they  were  to  bring  up  the 
promised  child.  "And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
unto  the  woman,  and  said  unto  her,  Behold  now,  thou  art 
barren,  and  bearest  not :  but  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a 
son.  Now  therefore,  beware,  I  pray  thee,  and  drink  not 
wine,  nor  strong  drink,  and  eat  not  any  unclean  thing. 
For,  lo,  thou  shalt  conceive,  and  bear  a  son  :  and  no  razor 
shall  come  on  his  head ;  for  the  child  shall  be  a  Nazarite 
unto  God  from  the  womb ;  and  he  shall  begin  to  deliver 
Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Philistines." — Verses  8-5. 

"And  the  angel  of  the  Lord,"  that  is,  "the  Son  of  God 
himself,"  according  to  Diodati  and  most  evangelical  com- 
mentators. Of  this  matter  we  shall  speak  again  ija  the 
next  chapter. 

The  angel  told  the  woman  what  she  already  well  knew — 
what  was  indeed  the  cause  of  great  grief  to  her — not  to  up- 
braid her  or  aggravate  her  grief.  There  is  no  reproach  cast 
upon  her  in  the  angel's  address.  His  purpose  was  to  give 
her  confidence — to  convince  her  that  he  was  a  true  prophet, 
and  competent  to  make  the  promise  of  a  son — and  that  she 
ought  therefore  to  believe  his  words.  Like  a  skilful  medi- 
cal man,  he  describes  first  the  disease,  that  he  may  in- 
spire his  patient  with  confidence  in  his  sympathy,  and 
ability  to  apply  the  proper  remedy.  Our  blessed  Lord  fol- 
lowed the  same  method  in  arresting  the  attention  of  the 
impotent  man  at  the  pool.  He  awakened  him  to  the  fact 
of  his  presence,  and  assured  him  of  his  sympathy,  and  in- 
spired him  with  hope  by  asking  him  if  he  would  be  made 
whole.  And  he  told  the  woman  of  Samaria  enough  of  her 
life  to  convince  her  he  was  a  prophet,  and  prepare  her  at 
last  to  confess  that  he  was  the  Messiah  himself. 


58  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

The  prohibition  in  the  fourth  verse  does  not  imply  that 
she  had  been  guilty  of  excess.  Nor  is  it  intimated  that 
such  things  were  not  lawful  at  other  times  and  to  other  per- 
sons. It  is  true  some  meats  were  regarded  as  unclean  among 
the  Jews.  The  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean  animals  is 
at  least  as  old  as  Noah,  and  no  doubt  as  old  as  sacrifices. 
But  it  was  especially  forbidden  to  a  Nazarite  to  touch  any- 
thing unclean.  The  angel  would  have  her  understand  that 
the  sanctifying  of  her  child  was  to  begin  with  herself. 
From  her  conception,  the  child  was  to  be  regarded  as  con- 
secrated in  an  especial  manner  to  God.  And  if  during  her 
gestation  and  nursing,  she  was  thus  abstemious,  the  extra- 
ordinary strength  of  the  child  would  be  the  less  liable  to 
be  ascribed  to  any  false  or  fictitious  cause.  There  was  a 
natural  fitness  in  the  prescribed  regimen  and  temperament 
to  produce  a  healthful  child,  but  his  superhuman  strength 
cannot  be  accounted  for  from  merely  natural  causes.  A 
miraculous  agency  was  employed,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  un- 
foldings  of  his  history ;  yet  it  was  then  as  in  many  other 
cases,  the  divine  rule,  that  the  ordinary  natural  means 
should  be  used.  Miracles  do  not  supersede,  but  go  beyond 
and  above  ordinary  agencies.  There  is  always  a  harmony 
between  divine  efficiency  and  human  agency. 

"  A  Nazarite  unto  God  from  the  womb,"  means  one  set 
apart  and  consecrated  especially  to  the  service  of  Grod. 
There  is  no  connection  between  a  Nazarite  and  a  Nazarene. 
The  latter  means  an  inhabitant  of  Nazareth,  the  town  of 
our  Lord's  parents.  But  a  Nazarite  was  one  wholly  de- 
voted to  God.  And  of  such  it  was  especially  required,  that 
they  should  not  shave  their  head.  The  law  of  the  Nazarite 
can  be  found  in  Numbers  vi.  Though  expected  to  be  a 
person  of  uncommon  self-denial  and  sanctity,  the  Nazarite 
was  not  a  recluse,  nor  an  ascetic.  He  did  not  live  in  a  cell, 
nor  on  a  pillar,  nor  in  the  wilderness.  He  might  eat,  drink, 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        59 

marry  and  live  in  society  as  other  men,  excepting  that  he 
was  to  avoid  all  ceremonial  pollution,  and  especially  never 
to  come  in  contact  with  a  dead  body.  The  vow  to  abstain 
from  wine,  and  not  to  shave  the  head,  might  be  for  a 
limited  time  or  for  life.  In  the  case  of  Samson,  of  Samuel, 
and  of  John  the  Baptist,  however,  the  consecration  was 
made  before  their  birth  and  was  to  continue  till  death.  I 
believe  Samson  is  the  first  person  mentioned  in  the  Bible 
by  name  as  an  actual  Nazarite.  Like  Isaac,  Samuel,  and 
John  the  Baptist,  he  was  the  only  son  of  a  mother  long 
childless.  "  Mercies  long  waited  for,  often  prove  signal 
mercies,  and  it  is  made  to  appear  they  were  worth  waiting 
for,  and  by  them  others  may  be  encouraged  to  continue 
their  hope  in  God's  mercy." — Henry. 

The  mother  of  Israel's  hero  drinks  nothing  but  water,  and 
the  child  himself  tastes  nothing  but  nature's  beverage. 
"  And  never  did  wine,"  says  the  pious  Hall,  "  make  so  strong 
a  champion  as  water  did  here.  The  power  of  nourishment 
is  not  in  the  creatures,  but  in  their  Maker.  Daniel  and  his 
three  companions  kept  their  complexion  with  the  same  diet 
wherewith  Samson  got  his  strength ;  he  that  gave  power  to 
the  grape,  can  give  it  to  the  stream.  0  God,  how  justly 
do  we  raise  our  eyes  from  our  tables  unto  thee,  who  canst 
make  water  nourish  and  wine  enfeeble !" 

"  Oh  !  madness  to  think  use  of  strongest  wines 
And  strongest  drinks  our  chief  support  of  health, 
When  God  with  these  forbidden  made  choice  to  rear 
His  mighty  champion,  strong  above  compare, 
Whose  drink  was  only  from  the  liquid  brook." 

Special  holiness  eminently  becomes  special  appointments 
to  divine  service.  Special  care  in  food  and  drink  was  re- 
quired of  her  who  was  to  be  the  mother  of  Samson.  The 
man  of  the  world  may  take  his  full  scope  and  deny  himself 


60  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

nothing.  And  verily  lie  hath  his  reward.  He  may  in- 
dulge the  pride  of  his  heart  and  the  lust  of  his  eyes, 
not  without  sin  indeed,  but  with  less  guilt  than  one 
who  professes  to  be  a  Christian.  For  having  named  the 
name  of  Christ,  we  must  be  careful  to  depart  from  all  ini- 
quity. If  we  are  Christ's,  we  must  have  his  spirit.  If 
Christians,  we  are  consecrated  to  God  as  true  Nazarites. 
The  man  of  the  world  has  all  his  good  things  now,  and  it  is 
a  miserable,  poor  portion.  The  believer's  good  things  are 
to  come.  They  are  in  Heaven. 

"And  he  shall  begin  to  deliver  Israel."  Samson  only 
began  to  deliver  Israel,  for  it  was  not  till  the  days  of  Da- 
vid, that  the  Philistines  were  entirely  subdued.  "  Begin  to 
deliver"  seems -here  to  mean,  some  deliverance — pledges, 
specimens  of  what  their  God  was  able  to  do  for  them,  and 
proofs  that  although  they  had  been  so  grievously  oppressed 
by  the  Amorites  on  their  eastern  border,  and  now  by  the 
Philistines  on  the  west,  still  he  had  not  wholly  forsaken 
them.  The  deliverance  begun  by  Samson  was  most  timely. 
This  was  the  darkest  hour  of  their  oppression.  Their  con- 
dition was  most  humiliating  and  their  enemies  most  insult- 
ingly cruel.  It  was  God's  time  for  Moses  to  come,  when 
the  tale  of  bricks  was  doubled.  "  Begin  to  deliver"  also 
suggests  that  God's  usual  method  is  to  work  gradually.  He 
has  ordered  that  one  shall  sow,  and  another  reap.  One  lays 
the  foundation,  another  *  brings  forth  the  capstone  with 
shoutings,  crying  "  grace,  grace,  unto  it." 

Samson  was  the  first  hero  of  the  tribe  of  Dan.  Jacob  in 
his  dying  blessing  had  said  :  "  Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the 
way,  an  adder  in  the  path,  biting  the  heels  of  the  horse,  so 
that  his  rider  shall  fall  backwards."  Gen.  xlix.  16, 17.  And 
as  the  name  Dan  signifies  judge  or  judgment,  it  has  been 
suggested,  that  it  was  a  divine  foretelling  of  Samson,  that 
Jacob  uttered  in  dying,  when  he  said,  "Dan  shall  judge  his 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        61 

people."  That  is,  of  this  tribe  shall  arise  a  distinguished 
judge.  And  this  could  be  no  other  than  Samson.  The 
prophecy  related  to  the  fortunes  and  exploits  of  Dan's  pos- 
terity, and  not  to  himself  personally,  and  was  fulfilled  more 
remarkably  in  Manoah's  son,  than  in  any  other  man  of  his 
tribe.  As  the  territory  of  Dan  bordered  on  the  cities  of  the 
Philistines,  it  was  natural  for  them  to  be  the  most  exposed 
to  their  depredations.  It  was  therefore  proper  that  the 
avenger  and  deliverer  of  Israel  should  arise  out  of  this 
tribe. 

We  see  also  that  afflictions  are  occasions  for  God's  ap- 
pearance. Divine  help  is  always  opportunely.  The  promise 
is  that  grace  shall  be  given  to  us  not  before,  but  according 
to  our  day.  Only  the  sick  really  know  the  blessings  of 
recovery  to  health.  If  Manoah's  wife  had  not  been  in  grief, 
the  angel  had  not  been  sent  to  comfort  her.  It  has  been 
happily  remarked  that  in  the  Bible  angels  and  prophets 
were  often  sent  with  glad  tidings  to  women  that  were  with- 
out children,  and  in  much 'sorrow  on  that  account.  And  it 
has  been  asked  why  was  this,  and  why  were  the  sons  thus 
promised  so  distinguished,  since  but  few  great  men  have 
sons  equal  to  themselves?  There  is  an  answer  to  all  the 
points  of  this  inquiry  without  impeaching  either  the  justice 
or  goodness  of  God.  The  inferiority  of  the  sons  of  great 
men  may  be  owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  mother,  or  to  the 
neglect  of  their  early  traitiing.  It  is  well  known  that  some 
distinguished  men  have  married>  women  not  at  all  their 
equals,  or  fit  to  be  their  companions.  And  it  is  quite  as 
well  known,  that  great  men  are  so  occupied  with  public 
cares,  or  so  diligently  employed  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge, 
that  their  own  children  are  often  neglected.  The  main 
point  in  hand  here,  however,  is  the  illustration  that  God's 
gracious  deliverances  are  always  opportunely  sent.  I  am 
aware  that  various  conjectures  have  been  made  to  satisfy  the 
6 


62  THE  GIANT   JUDGE, 

rather  over  curious,  if  not  profane,  infidel  question — Why 
did  the  angel  appear  to  the  wife  rather  than  to  the  husband? 
No  reason  is  stated.  Nor  do  I  see  that  we  are  under  any 
ohligations  to  vindicate  our  narrative  for  this  omission.  The 
fact  of  the  angel's  appearance  is  recorded.  But  we  do  not 
know  whether  he  was  sent  to  the  woman,  because  it  was 
her  reproach  rather  than  her  husband's  that  she  was  not 
fruitful;  or  whether  it  was  because  she  was  to  endure  the 
pain  of  parturition;  or  because  she  took  the  matter  more 
to  heart  than  her  husband  did.  If  we  must  find  a  reason, 
the  last  is  most  to  our  mind.  For  it  is  always  true,  that 
God's  mercies  are  well-timed  and  properly  directed.  The 
history  of  the  pious  proves  conclusively,  that  if  Satan  ply 
his  heavy  batteries  upon  the  weakest,  God  does  not  fail  to 
address  consolation  to  those  that  are  most  in  need.  The 
promises  of  God  are  like  a  certain  kind  of  bridge;  the  more 
heavy  the  pressure  upon  them,  the  stronger  they  are.  The 
believer  is  fortified  abundantly  with  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises.  Eve  was  the  most  dejected;  to  her  there- 
fore was  the  promise  especially  addressed.  It  is  not  said, 
Adam's  seed;  but  the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the 
serpent's  head.  Manoah's  wife  is  the  most  troubled,  to  her 
therefore  is  the  divine  messenger  sent;  and  sent  to  her:  1. 
Because  the  announcement  to  a  barren  woman  of  the  birth 
of  a  distinguished  son,  would  impress  her  and  her  husband 
and  countrymen  with  the  idea  that  such  a  son  was  from  the 
Lord,  and  designed  by  him  to  be  a  special  blessing.  All 
children  are  divine  gifts.  They  are  God's  heritage.  They 
come  only  at  his  bidding.  But  when  some  special  mission 
was  designed,  it  was  proper  to  give  distinction  to  the  ap- 
pointment. 2.  A  son  given  under  such  solemn  promises  and 
instruction  would  be  better  taken  care  of.  A  gift  thus 
made  would  be  more  highly  valued.  The  education  of 
children  is  a  fearful  responsibility.  And  even  the  best  mo- 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        63 

tilers'  need  divine  help  and  admonitions.  In  the  East  it  is 
.Btill  considered  a  disgrace  and  a  mark  of  divine  displeasure, 
to  have  a  childless  house.  Among  the  ancient  Hebrews  the 
desire  for  children  was  rendered  even  more  intense  than 
among  other  nations,  because  of  the  promises.  Every 
Hebrew  wife  seems  to  have  hoped  she  would  be  the  mother 
of  the  Messiah,  or  at  least  of  his  progenitor.  Vows  and 
prayers  and  expensive  ceremonies  were  resorted  to  as  a  means 
of  prevailing  upon  God  to  give  them  children.  And  to  this 
day,  in  the  schools  of  the  East,  boys  may  be  seen  with  elf 
locks,  which  are  memorials  of  vows  to  God  for  favour  granted 
in  their  gift.  See  verses  six,  seven,  and  eight.  "ManofGod," 
that  is,  a  holy  prophet.  "Very  terrible,"  that  is,  according 
to  Diodati,  "majestical,  glorious  and  sparkling  with  light." 
The  woman  seems  to  say,  his  countenance  was  so  like  that 
of  an  angel  of  God — so  commanding,  so  awful,  and  inspired 
me  with  such  awe,  that  I  feared  to  ask  him  any  questions. 

"Samson  had  not  a  better  mother  than  Manoah  had  a 
wife."  As  a  good  wife,  she  at  once  told  her  husband  of 
God's  messenger.  And  Manoah  at  onee  applies  at  head- 
quarters. He  goes  immediately  to  prayer,  saying,  O  my 
Lord,  I  pray  thee,  let  that  man  of  God  my  wife  speaks  of 
come  again,  and  tell  us  fully  how  we  are  to  bring  up  the 
child.  He  had  not  seen  God's  messenger.  He  has  yet 
but  a  meagre  account  of  the  interview;  but  hie  faith  takes 
hold  of  the  promise,  nothing  doubting. 

Josephus  thinks,  but  without  authority,  that  Manoah's 
mind  was  disturbed  by  what  his  wife  had  said  of  the  man 
of  God,  and  that  he  wished  to  have  some  further  knowledge 
of  this  strange  visitor.  There  is  not  a  syllable,  however,  to 
warrant  any  such  jealous  suspicion.  On  the  contrary,  his 
desire  was  to  obtain  information  as  to  the  bringing  up  of  the 
child.  His  wife  in  all  things  seems  to  have  been  dutiful, 
confiding,  and  affectionate.  She  reports  at  once,  as  a  good 


64  THE    GJANT   JUDGE. 

wife  should  have  done,  the  angelic  message,  to  her  husband 
— doubtless  because  she  wished  him  to  share  in  the  joy  of 
such  a  promise,  and  desired  his  help  to  keep  all  the  admoni- 
tions given  to  her.  She  seems  to  have  been  so  overjoyed  at 
the  announcement  that  she  was  to  have  a  son,  that  she  ran 
away  from  the  man  of-  God,  hastening  home  from  the  field, 
without  asking  him  how  she  was  to  bring  up  a  child  to  whom 
so  important  a  mission  was  committed. 

And  surely  Manoah's  solicitude  to  have  more  full  instruc- 
tion from  the  angel  was  well.  For  the  care  of  children  is  a 
very  great  concern.  Happy  would  it  be  for  us  as  a  people, 
if  all  our  parents,  like  this  pious  Danite,  oftener  prayed : 
"Teach  me  what  we  shall  do  to  the  child  that  shall  be  born 
to  us/' 

From  Manoah  .  and  his  wife  let  us  learn  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  dedicating  our  little  ones  to  God.  He  has  a 
property  in  us  and  our  households  that  cannot  be  destroyed. 
Nor  does  he  ever  relinquish  or  alienate  his  rights  to  our 
children.  It  is  therefore  our  duty  to  acknowledge  him  in 
our  families,  and  to  dedicate  to  him  the  children  he  has 
given  us.  This  dedication  is  a  solemn  covenant,  as  well  as 
a  sacrament.  In  it  God  says  to  us :  Take  these  little  ones 
and  bring  them  up  for  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  thy  wages. 
And  we  answer,  Lord,  we  dedicate  them  to  thee,  imploring 
thy  blessing  to  rest  upon  them. 

The  care  of  children  should  begin  before  they  are  born — 
even  before  they  are  conceived.  A  celebrated  physician 
says:  "The  first  duty  parents  owe  to  their  children  is,  to 
convey  health  and  strength,  a  good  constitution  of  body  and 
mind  to  them,  as  far  as  k  is  in  their  power;  by  a  proper 
care  of  their  own  health,  and  a  conscientious  abstinence  from 
vice  and  excess  of  every  kind."  The  ancient  Romans  were 
extremely  careful  as  to  the  health  and  condition  of  mothers. 
If  ignorance  as  to  the  effect  of  a  mother-' s  health  and  state  of 


SAMSON'S    I'ARENTS THE    HERO    PROMISED.  65 

mind  on  the  constitution  of  her  child  could  ever  be  plead  as 
an  excuse  for  entailing  a  host  of  ailments  upon  her  posterity, 
it  surely  cannot  now  be  offered;  for  by  means  of  the  press 
and  of  public  lecturing,  the  whole  subject  has  been  popular- 
ized— perhaps  too  much  so.  At  least  ignorance  is  no  longer 
an  excuse.  And  if  the  laws  of  nature  on  this  subject  are 
well  understood  in  their  application  to  the  lower  animals, 
why  should  they  be  neglected  or  despised  in  man?  Health 
of  mind  and  body  should  be  a  prerequisite  of  marriage.  And 
the  most  enlightened  attention  should  be  "bestowed  on  women 
during  their  child-bearing.  This  subject  deserves  the  most 
serious  consideration  from  patriots,  philanthropists,  and  chris- 
tians.  The  civil,  intellectual,  and  moral  well-being  of  our 
nation  is  and  will  be  greatly  affected  by  a  proper  regard  to 
it.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  doubt,  or  a  point  yet  to  be  discussed. 
It  is  already  demonstrated  that  many  diseases,  tempers,  dis- 
positions, and  habits  are  hereditary.  "  Many  of  the  ill  habits 
of  body  that  children  bring  into  the  world  with  them  are 
owing  to  the  irregularities  of  their  mothers;  (and  of  their 
fathers;)  and  most  of  the  diseases  of  which  so  many  young 
children  die,  arise  from  a  bad  mass  of  blood  communicated 
to  them."  "Women  with  child  ought  conscientiously  to 
avoid  whatever  they  have  reason  to  think  will  be  any  way 
prejudicial  to  the  health  or  good  constitution  of  the  fruit  of 
their  life." — Henry. 

The  proper  idea  of  educating  children  is  to  fit  them  for 
the  duties  of  life  and  the  realities  of  a  fast-coming  eternity. 
To  do  this  they  must  be  trained.  Training  combines,  1. 
both  instruction  and  government.  Its  field  is  both  the  mind 
arid  the  body.  It  reduces  to  life  the  precepts  which  are  to 
regulate  them  when  they  are  grown.  To  train  a  child 
properly  is  to  form  it  again  into  the  image  in  which  man 
was  created.  It  is  to  recover  it  from  the  ruins  of  the  fall. 
This  cannot  be  done  at  once.  But  it  can  be  begun,  and 


66  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

• 

the  completion  will  follow  in  heaven.  To  train  a  child  re- 
quires patience,  faith,  courage,  perseverance,  and  divine 
assistance. 

2.  To  bring  up  a  child  in  "  the  nurture  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord,"  instruction  and  example  are  essential.     It  is 
the  nature  of  a  child  to  imitate  what  is  around  it.     The  in- 
fluence of  example  is  as  certain  as  the  action  of  the  air  upon 
its  body.     Influences  educate  the  child  long  before  it  is 
large  enough  to  be  sent  from  home  to  school.     It  is  in  the 
un  written,  »unspoken  teachings  of  home  in  our  tenderest 
years  that  our  destiny  has  its   beginnings.     Every  word, 
tone,  look,  frown,  smile,  and  tear,  witnessed  in  childhood, 
performs  Its  part  in  training  the  infant  for  eternity.     In- 
struction should  begin  early,  but  let  it  be  oral,  and  consist 
chiefly  of  a  few  moral  precepts,  Bible  stories,  and   chaste 
fables.     A  great  error  in   our  times  is  the  pressing  of  the 
infantile  mind ;  cramming  the  memory  with  what  the  child 
does  not  understand,  and  at  the  same  time  so  compressing  and 
cramping  it  as  to  prevent  the  proper  physical  development, 
and  impair  the  reasoning  faculties.     Another  of  the  alarm- 
ing evils  of  our  day  is  the  circulation  of  demoralizing  publi- 
cations.    Earnest  warning  and  entreaties  on    this  subject 
have  often  fallen  from  this  pulpit.     But  the  warning  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated.     The  influence  of  immoral  prints  and 
books  is  calculated  more  than  anything  else  to  corrupt  the 
morals,  and  enfeeble  the  intellects  of  the  juvenile  portion  of 
our  country.     To  circulate  such  publications  is  a  serious 
offence  against  God  and  man ;  and  yet  I  greatly  fear  it  is  a 
growing  evil ;  nor  do  I  see  any  corrective  so  available,  so 
potential  and  so  practicable,  as  family  government  and  in- 
struction.    Let  the  home  be  for  amusement,  pleasure,  know- 
ledge, and  religion  as  attractive  as  possible. 

3.  In  the  bringing  up  of  children,  prayer,  deep,  earnest, 
believing  prayer  is  essential.     The  preservation  of  children 


SAMSON'S  PARENTS — THE  HERO  PROMISED.        67 

K-  a  constant  miracle.  After  all  our  solicitude  and  pains- 
taking, and  watching  and  heart-bleeding,  we  have  to  trust 
them  to  God.  We  are  shut  up  to  wrestling  with  God,  as 
the  last  resort  saying,  Peradventure  they  may  live ;  or  as 
Abraham  himself,  Oh  that  Ishmael  might  live  !  Parental 
solicitude  is  not  only  justified,  but  expressly  enjoined  in 
God's  word.  The  apostle  speaks  of  it,  as  a  great  commen- 
dation of  Timothy  and  of  his  mother  and  grandmother,  that 
from  his  infancy  he  had  been  made  .acquainted  with  the 
Scriptures,  which  were  able  to  make  him  wise  unto  salva- 
tion through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  "  Train  up  a  child/' 
says  Solomon,  "  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he 
is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 

He  is  not  prepared  to  discharge  his  duties  to  himself,  his 
country,  and  his  God,  as  a  parent,  who  does  not  see  and  feel 
that  the  art  of  education  is  both  the  most  important  and 
difficult  in  the  world.  It  has  been  so  considered  by  many  of 
the  greatest  men  that  have  ever  lived.  Many  of  the  greatest 
minds  arid  largest  hearts  have  spent  their  wisdom  and 
strength,  in  advancing  the  education  of  mankind  in  morals 
and  religion. 

By  Manoah's  example,  we  are  taught  where  to  obtain  aid 
and  direction  in  bringing  up  our  children.  As  soon  as  he 
is  informed  that  he  is  to  have  a  son,  he  falls  to  praying  that 
he  may  know  how  to  order  the  child — to  know  what  he 
should  do  unto  him.  Verses  eight  and  twelve.  "  When  I 
see  the  strength  of  Manoah's  faith,  I  marvel  not  that  he 
had  a  Samson  to  his  son ;  he  saw  not  the  messenger,  he 
heard  not  the  errand,  he  examined  not  the  circumstances; 
yet  now  he  takes  thought,  not  whether  he  should  have  a 
son,  but  how  he  shall  order  the  son  which  he  must  have/' 
— Hall. 

I^  is  true  that  we  are  eminently  blessed  with  elementary 
school  books,  and  the  schools  of  our  country,  especially  for 


68  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

young  children  and  the  acquirement  of  a  practical  educa- 
tion, are  not  surpassed  by  those  of  any  other  nation.  But 
it  deserves  to  be  always  kept  in  mind,  that  in  educating 
there  is  no  book  that  can  take  the  place  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  no  means  that  can  be  made  a  substitute  for  prayer.  It 
is  the  great  business  of  a  parent  to  secure  a  sound  mind  in 
a  sound  body  for  his  child,  and  then  to  baptize  him  day  by 
day  with  heavenly  influences 'in  answer  to  prayer.  And 
surely  it  is  of  such  children  we  may  hope,  as  patriots  and  as 
followers  of  Christ,  that  they  will  be  deliverers  of  Israel. 
The  age  of  miracles  is  past.  We  have  no  right  to  expect 
jingels  to  tell  us  what  to  do  unto  our  children.  We  have  a 
more  sure  word  of  prophecy  (instruction.)  The  divine 
word  is  ever  speaking  to  us,  saying,  aThis  is  the  way,  walk 
ye  in  it."  Conscience,  enlightened  by  the  divine  word  and 
spirit,  is  also  constantly  teaching  us  the  way  in  which  we 
should  go.  The  Bible  direction  is  to  acknowledge  God  in 
all  our  ways,  and  he  will  direct  our  steps.  Manoah's  mind 
was  aroused  by  his  wife's  tidings;  and  his  faith  was  at  once 
strong;  and  being  all  the  more  encouraged  by  the  favours 
already  given,  he  prayed  to  God  to  teach  him  more  fully 
what  he  was  to  do.  And  though  secret  things  belong  to 
God,  revealed  things  belong  to  us  and  to  our  children. 
And  whenever  the  soul  bows  down  before  the  Father  of  spi- 
rits, earnestly  seeking  to  know  his  will,  in  some  way  or  other, 
he  will  teach  us  his  paths,  Psalm  xxv.  8. 

"  Thus  at  the  flaming  forge  of  life 
Our  fortunes  must  be  wrought, 
Thus  on  its  sounding  anvil  shaped 
Each  burning  deed  and  thought." 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OF   THE   OLD    TESTAMENT.         69 


CHAPTER    V. 

JESUS   CHRIST    IN    THE    THEOPHANIES   OF    THE    OLD   TES- 
TAMENT. 

" Appeared  before  mine  eyes 

•  A  man  of  God  :  his  habit  and  his  guise 

Were  such  as  holy  prophets  used  to  wear; 
Butin  his  dreadful  looks  there  did  appear 
Something  that  made  me  tremble ;  in  his  eye 
Mildness  was  mixt  with  awful  majesty." 

Quarles'  Samson.  - 

Testamentum  Vetus  de  Christo  exhibendo,  Novum  de  Christo  exhibito 
agit :  Novum  in  veteri  latet,  Vetus  in  novo  patet. — Augustine. 

"  Scriptura  omnis  in  duo  Testamenta  divisa  est  *  #  Judaei  Veteri 
utuntur,  nos  Novo  :  sed  tamen  diversa  non  sunt,  quia  Novuin  Veteria 
adimpletio  est,  et  in  utroque  idem  Testator  est  Christus." 

Lactantius,  Div.  Inst.  iv.  20. 

IN  Judges  xiii.  8 — 21,  we  have  a  more  detailed  account 
of  the  appearance  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  than  is  to  be 
found  in  any  other  part  of  the  Bible.  For  this  reason,  as 
•well  as  on  account  of  the  great  intrinsic  merit  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  narrative  of  Samson  is  suspended  till  the  next 
chapter. 

"  Angel"  is  rather  a  txerm  of  office  than  of  nature.  This 
term  is  used  ip  the  Bible  to  denote  a  messenger  both  hu- 
man and  spiritual,  and  also  impersonal  agents,  as  winds, 
fires,  remarkable  dispensations,  &c.  It  seems  to  denote  any 
vehiple  or  medium  by  which  the  Creator  made  known  his 
presence  or  executed  his  will.  There  are  evil  as  well  as 


NT    JUDGE. 

good  angels,  and  sometimes  it  is  thought,  "angel  of  the  Lord" 
means  a  personification  of  divine  judgments.  (See  Bush's 
notes  on  Gen.  xvi.  7 ;  xxiv.  7 ;  and  Ex.  iii.  2.)  The  most 
frequent  application  of  this  term  is  undoubtedly  to  the  spe- 
cial manifestation  of  the  Lord  to  the  patriarchs  and  prophets. 
The  Shelnnah  is  called  the  angel  of  the  Lord.  Ex.  xiv.  19. 
But  in  all  such  visible  symbols  of  the  divine  glory,  Jehovah 
himself,  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  very 
game  that  appeared  in  the  bush,  and  by  whose  good  will 
Joseph  was  preserved,  is  to  be  considered  as  present.  "  The 
angel  of  the  Lord"  is  literally  the  Angel-Jehovah,  or  Jeho- 

fi  vah,  the  Sent  One,  and  is  none  other  than  God  manifest, 
^3  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     In  the  Bible,  God  the  Father  is 
never  spoken  of  as  sent,  but  the  Messiah  is  so  represented 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  Christ  is  so  spoken  of  in  the 

f'    New  Testament,  and  actually  claims  himself  to  have  come 
"V  :  from  and  to  be  sent  by  the  Father.     In  finding  therefore 
that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  is  Jehovah,  God,  the  Lord  hiin- 
'  "\  v    self,  we  shall   establish  our  proposition,  that  in  the  Theo- 
phanies  of  the  Old  Testament  we  have  Jesus  Christ  mani- 
fested as  God. 

"  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  came  again,"  v.  9.  This  is 
the  same  angel  that  appeared  first  to  the  woman,  and  the 
same  that  appeared  to  Abraham,  Lot,  Moses,  Joshua,  Gid- 
eon, and  others,  and  is  the  Messiah-Christ.  In  the  eight- 
eenth verse,  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Why 
askest  thou  thus  after  my  name,  seeing  it  is  secret  ?"  Here 
the  Hebrew  word  for  secret  is  the  same  that  Isaiah  uses  for 
wonderful.  Isa.  ix.  6.  "  And  his  name  shall  be  called 
wonderful."  Hence  it  is  concluded,  that  the  true  meaning 
of  the  clause,  "  seeing  it  is  secret,"  is,  it  is  wonderful.  The 
angel  then  means  to  say  that,  his  name  Wonderful,  signified 
that  he  was  the  promised  Messiah. 

In  Genesis  xxii.  11,  the  same  appellation  is  used.    "And 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OF   THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.         71 

the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  him  out  of  heaven,  and 
said,  Abraham,  Abraham/'  and  yet  in  the  first  verse  of  the 
same  chapter  it  is  said  that  it  was  God  who  tempted  Abra- 
ham, and  commanded  him  to  sacrifice  his  son.  See  also 
verses  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen,  which  clearly  identify  the 
'angel  of  Jehovah  and  God  as  one  and  the  same.  And  in 
Gen.  xxiv.  7,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  is  identified  with  God 
himself.  The  same  thing  is  clear  from  Ex.  iii.  2,  6,  10,  14; 
Numb.  xx.  22 ;  Judges  ii.  5 ;  and  vi.  11-40  ;  2  Samuel 
xxiv.  16;  2  Kings  xix.  35;  1  Chron.  xxi.  12. 

Now  these  Scriptures  taken  together  prove,  1.  That  Ha- 
gar,  Abraham,  and  Moses,  believed  God  to  be  invisible,  and 
yet  that  they  had  certain  direct  communications  from  him. 
There  was  either  a  shape,  or  voice,  or  both,  or  some  repre- 
sentation of  God  made  to  them  visibly — some  divine  mani- 
festation that  came  in  some  way  within  the  reach  of  their 
senses ;  and  this  representation  was  called  the  "  angel  of 
Jehovah,"  "  the  angel  of  his  presence,"  and  was  identified 
with  Jehovah  himself — received  the  worship,  and  acknow- 
ledged the  attributes,  and  performed  the  same  works  which 
the  Scriptures  ascribe  to  God. 

The  invisibility  as  well  as  the  spirituality  of  the  Supreme 
Being  is  explicitly  taught  in  the  Bible — in  both  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testaments.  See  Ex.  xxxiii.  20;  Job  ix.  11; 
John  i.  18;  and  verse  thirty-seven;  Rev.  i.  20;  Col.  i.  15; 
Heb.  xi.  27 ;  1  Tim.  vi.  16.  And  yet  according  to  numer- 
ous texts  of  Scripture,  God  has  been  pleased,  at  various 
times  and  in  different  places,  to  put  himself  in  communica- 
tion with  mankind.  He  has  caused  his  voice  to  be  heard 
and  his  shape  to  be  seerf.  In  Gen.  xvi.  7,  we  have  the  first 
distinct  divine  manifestation  revealed  by  name.  Here  the 
epithet  is  the  one  so  often  used  in  the  Old  Testament — 
"angel  of  the  Lord."  And  it  is  evident  from  the  text  that 
Hagar  understood  the  angel  of  Jehovah  to  be  Jehovah  him- 


72  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

self;  for  she  called  the  name  of  the  Jehovah  that  spake 
unto  her,  "  thou  God  of  visibility/'*  These  manifestations 
of  God  were  made  in  a  way  suitable  to  the  senses  and  capac 
ities  of  man.  The  divine  glory  was  of  necessity  veiled. 
And  hence  the  manifestation  was  called  a  the  angel  of  God's 
presence,"  that  is,  his  messenger.  So  much  of  Godhea<? 
was  manifested  as  the  creature  could  bear.  And  by  this 
method  of  revealing  himself,  it  pleased  God  to  keep  open  a 
communication  with  our  race,  until  the  fulness  of  time 
came,  when  he  actually  manifested  himself  in  the  flesh. 
By  these  divine  appearances  the  faith  of  mankind  was  kept 
alive,  that  in  due  time  the  promise  should  be  fulfilled,  and 
the  Word  should  become  flesh,  and  the  Seed  of  the  woman 
bruise^  the  serpent's  head. 

2.  The  appellation  "  angel  of  the  Lord/'  therefore,  in  the 
Old  Testament  is  to  be  understood  as  meaning  the  Messiah. 
Such  divine  appearances  were  manifestly  pledges  of  God's 
continued  good  will  to  men.  They  were  evidences  of  his 
repeated  gracious  interpositions.  They  were  types  of  the 
coming  incarnation.  In  the  form  of  "  a  man  of  God,"  or 
of  an  angel,  it  was  Jesus  Christ,  that  appeared  to  the  patri- 
archs, as  a  pledge  of  his  future  coming  into  the  world  as  the 
long  promised  Messiah.  The  angel  that  redeemed  Jacob 
from  all  evil,"  he  represents  as  identical  with  the  God  before 
whom  his  fathers  had  walked,  and  who  had  fed  him  all  his 
life  long.  And  he  also  makes  his  vows  to  this  angel  as  the 
God  of  Bethel,  and  the  same  who  spoke  to  him  in  Padan- 
aram.  And  Hosea,  speaking  of  this  angel  of  Jacob,  identi- 
fies him  with  Jehovah.  See  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  16;  and  xxxi. 
11-13.  Jacob's  language  is  remarkable :  "  The  angel 

#  Boothroyd,  Le  Clerc,  Houbigant,  Michaelis,  says  this  is  the  true 
reading  of  the  passage.  In  their  opinion  also,  the  name  of  the  well  ia 
"  the  well  of  the  invisible  God."  The  Targum  of  Jonathan,  the  Greek, 
Arabic,  Chaldee,  and  Syriac  have  it  thus. 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT.         73 

which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil,"  by  which  he  does  not 
mean  a  creature, — does  not  mean  another  and  a  different 
being  from  the  God  of  his  fathers,  but  an  expletive  of  the 
name  God.  Is  it  scriptural  usage  then  for  God  to  be  called 
by  the  name,  Angel  ?  In  Jacob's  earlier  life,  we  have  an 
instance.  He  wrestled  with  an  angel  at  the  ford  Jabbok 
till  the  breaking  of  day,  and  yet  he  says,  speaking  of  this 
angel  at  Peniel,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face."  In  the 
divine  revelation  to  Abraham  of  the  doom  of  the  cities  of 
the  plain,  Jehovah  himself,  or  God  the  Son,  is  clearly  to  be 
recognized  in  one  of  the  angels.  In  the  third-  chapter  of 
Exodus,  we  have  one  of  the  most  illustrious  recorded  ap- 
pearances of  the  angel  of  the  Lord  to  be  found  in  the  Bible. 
Here  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  God,  and  Jehovah  are  in- 
terchangeable. In  the  second  verse  he  who  is  called  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  appears  in  the  bush,  and  in 
the  fourth  verse  he  is  called  Lord  (Jehovah)  and  God.  And 
in  the  sixth  verse,  the  same  An  gel- Jehovah  who  appears  in 
the  bush  and  is  called  Lord  and  God,  speaking  of  himself 
says  :  "  I  am  the  God  of  thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham, 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  And  Moses  hid 
his  face ;  for  he  was  afraid  to  look  upon  God."  And  in 
verses  eleven  and  twelve,  Moses  said  unto  God,  addressing 
the  angel  of  the  Lord,  of  the  first  verse,  who  was  in  the 
bush,  and  in  the  fourteenth  verse — "  God  said  unto  Moses, 
I  am  that  I  am ;  and  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you."  And  in 
the  next  verse  he  repeats  that  he  is  the  Lord  God  of  their  fa- 
thers, the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  Throughout 
the  whole  narrative  and  dialogue  of  Moses'  call  and  inaugu- 
ration into  office  as  deliverer  of  Israel,  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
is  Jehovah,  and  in  this  appearance  of  the  Lord  God,  we 
recognize  no  other  personage  than  the  angel  of  the  Cove- 
nant, the  angel  of  Jehovah's  presence,  who  is  Messiah- 


74  THE    GIANT 

Christ-  The  Angel-Jehovah,  who  dwelt  in  the  glory-cloud, 
and  who  pledged  himself  to  conduct  the  Hebrews  to  the 
land  of  promise,  the  apostle  tells  us  expressly  was  Christ. 
1  Cor.  x.  9.  We  have  seen  that  the  angel  professes  in  the 
eighteenth  verse  that  his  name  is  the  same  that  we  find 
Isaiah  applying  to  the  Messiah  in  ix.  6.  And  again  in  Isa. 
xlii.  19,  the  same  term — angel — that  is  used  in  the  text  is 
given  to  the  Messiah,  who  is  also  called  the  Angel  of  the 
Covenant.  See  Mai.  iii.  1;  Matt.  xii.  18-21.  Compare 
also  Isa.  Ix.  1 ;  Heb.  ii.  14 ;  and  Isa.  xl.  3. 

There  is  .a  gradual  development  of  truth  as  taught  in  the 
Bible.  The  existence  of  God  is  assumed  His  unity  and 
spirituality  are  then  taught.  His  invisibility  and  yet  palp- 
able manifestations  are  asserted.  Repeated  proofs  are  given 
that  Jehovah  was  not  the  mere  tutelar  God  of  the  Hebrews. 
This  was  one  of  the  great  truths  demonstrated  by  the  awful 
controversy  between  Moses  and  Pharaoh,  which  was  indeed 
a  conflict  between  Jehovah's  prime  minister  and  the  gods 
of  Egypt.  No  intelligent  and  attentive  reader  of  the  Bible 
can  fail  to  discern  that  a  distinction  is  made  between  Jeho- 
vah as  invisible,  and  Jehovah  as  manifested  to  men.  In 
many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  we  find  an  exalted  being, 
introduced  as  "  the  angel,  servant,  or  messenger  of  Jeho- 
vah," who  speaks  of  himself  as  distinct  from  the  invisible 
and  eternal  Jehovah,  and  yet  assumes  to  himself  the  hon- 
ours, attributes,  and  works  of  Jehovah,  and  suffers  himself 
to  be  addressed  as  God.  Now  how  are  we  to  understand 
these  passages  in  which  "  the  angel  of  God"  is  thus  intro- 
duced ? 

The  true  interpretation  of  the  phrase,  "  angel  of  the  Lord," 
and  the  only  one  that  reconciles  all  the  passages  in  which  it 
occurs  and  the  allusions  made  to  it  in  the  Bible,  is  this, 
namely :  that  the  angel  of  Jehovah  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
Jesus  Christ,  who  as  Jehovah's  servant,  messenger,  or  angel, 


THE  THEOPH!NIES  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.       75 

was  manifested  before  i  e  incarnation,  as  a  proof  that  his 
heart  was  on  his  great  work  of  redeeming  man,  by  becom- 
ing a  man,  and  a  pledge  that  he  would  come  in  the  fulness 
of  time,  and  be  actually  born  of  a  woman,  made  under  the 
law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law.  (Gal.  iv.  4.) 
The  angel  of  the  Lord  then  in  the  Theophanies  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  the  Messiah  sent  from  God,  who  was  the 
word  that  was  God,  but  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us, 
full  of  grace  and  truth. 

From  heaven  he  came,  of  heaven  he  spoke, 
Dark  clouds  of  gloomy  night  he  broke, 
Unveiling  an  immortal  day. 

That  our  views  may  be  the  more  clearly  understood,  we 
repeat  and  sum  up  what  we  believe  the  Bible  teaches  on 
this  subject. 

I.  There  is  one,  only  living  and  true  God.     This  one 
supreme  and  only  living  and  true  God  is  alike  and  equally 
the  God  of  the  New  Testament  and  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  religion  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Bible  is  one 
religion.     The  Bible  is  not  a  heterogeneous  or  contradic- 
tory mass  of  old  or  obsolete  writings,  but  a  harmonious  and 
organized  whole,  each  part  perfect  in  its  place  and  of  its 
kind. 

II.  The  only  living  and  true  "God  is  a  Spirit,  infinite, 
eternal,  unchangeable,  invisible."     He  has  condescended, 
however,  in  times  past  to  speak  to  the  fathers  by  the  pro- 
phets, and  by  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  apostles.     He 
made  known  his  will  to  the  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  apos- 
tles, by  his  Spirit,  operating  directly  on  their  minds,  by 
dreams,  visions,  voices,  ecstasies,  symbolic  acts,  appearances, 
or  manifestations  in  the  form  of  an  angel,  or  by  some  repre- 
sentation of  his  glory,  which  is  called  in  the  Old  Testament, 
the  Shekinah. 


76  THE    GIANT   JUDGlJ 

III.  The  leading  idea  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament  was,  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  Other 
great  truths  are  taught  or  illustrated,  but  they  are  all  in 
order  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise. 
And  the  substance  of  the  New  Testament  is  a  record  of 
Messiah's  coming,  and  therein  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures. 

The  great  design,  therefore,  of  the  Old  Testament  has 
been  accomplished.  The  Hebrew  dispensation,  with  the 
divine  oracles,  prepared  mankind,  both  negatively  and 
positively,  for  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah,  the  world-re- 
deeming God.  The  purpose  of  divine  revelation  is  stated  in 
the  first  promise  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  is  prosecuted 
-hrough  the  whole  of  the  old  dispensation.  The  testimony 
of  Jesus  is  the  bond  of  union,  and  centre  in  which  all  the 
Old  Testament  harmonizes.  Without  this  purpose  in  view 
the  Old  Testament  is  but  a  loose,  scattered,  and  badly 
arranged  heap  of  poetry,  history,  morals,  and  memoirs. 
But  with  such  a  purpose  revealed,  and  running  through  all 
its  history,  we  can  understand  how  it  teaches,  typifies,  pro- 
mises, and  predicts  a  great  salvation  through  the  ineffable 
incarnation. 

The  whole  scope  and  end  of  prophecy  was  the  testimony 
of  JESUS.  The  entire  history  of  God's  revelation  in  Old 
Testament  times,  is  nothing  but  an  utterance  prophetic  of  a 
coming  Messiah.  "And  upon  that  revelation  of  facts,  and 
prediction  by  facts,  is  grounded  that  series  of  predictions  by 
words,  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  communicate  in  a 
supernatural  manner,  by  his  special  agents/'*  "In  the 
historical,  the  didactic,  the  prophetical  portions  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  discern  the  Old  Testament,  the  old  law,  living 
again,  in  a  new  and  spiritual  life;  not  embalmed  and  laid 

*  Lee  on  Inspiration. 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OP   THE   OLD    TESTAMENT.         77 

with  reverential  care  aside  in  the  grave,  but  arisen  from  the 
dead,  and  alive  for  evermore,  like  its  own  divine  Founder/' 

Stephen  and  John,  and  the  saints  in  glory  are  then 
with  Moses  and  Elias,  as  the  apostles  were  with  them  on 
the  mount  of  transfiguration.  They  all  sing  alike  the  song 
of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb. — 
Rev.  xv.  3. 

The  Bible,  as  a  history,  testifies  of  Jesus.  And  the  two 
great  divisions  of  the  Bible,  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
are  indissolubly  connected,  and  of  co-equal  authority.  JESUS 
CHRIST  is  the  central  point  to  which  all  the  rays  of  revela- 
tion converge,  and  from  which  they  again  flow  by  the  min- 
istrations of  his  own  Eternal  Spirit. 

An  able  author  of  one  of  the  Hulsean  lectures,  speaking 
of  the  past  development  of  the  Scriptures,  holds  the  follow- 
ing beautiful  language:  "This  treasure  of  divine  truth,  once 
given,  has  only  gradually  revealed  itself;  how  the  history 
of  the  church,  the  difficulties,  the  trials,  the  struggles,  the 
temptations  in  which  it  has  been  involved,  have  interpreted 
to  it  its  own  records.  *  *  *  Now  there  was  much 
written  for  it  there  as  with  sympathetic  ink,  invisible  for  a 
season,  yet  ready  to  flash  out  in  lines  and  .characters  of  light, 
whenever  the  appointed  day  and  hour  had  arrived ;  so  that 
in  this  way  the  Scripture  has  been  to  the  church  as  their 
garments  to  the  children  of  Israel,  which,  during  all  the 
years  of  their  pilgrimage  in  the  desert,  waxed  not  old;  yea, 
according  to  rabbinical  tradition,  kept  pace  and  measure 
with  their  bodies,  growing  with  their  growth,  fitting  the 
man  as  they  had  fitted  the  child,  and  this,  until  the  forty 
years  of  their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness  had  expired.  Or  to 
use  another  comparison,  which  may  serve  to  illustrate  our 
meaning:  Holy  Scripture,  thus  progressively  unfolding  what 
it  contains,  might  be  likened  fitly  to  some  magnificent  land- 
scape, on  which  the  sun  is  gradually  rising,  and  ever  as  it 


78  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

rises  is  bringing  out  one  headland  into  light  and  prominence, 
and  then  another;  anon,  kindling  the  glory-smitten  summit 
of  some  far  mountain,  and  presently  lighting  up  the  recesses 
of  some  near  Talley  which  had  hitherto  abided  in  gloom; 
and  so,  travelling  on,  till  nothing  remains  in  shadow,  no 
crook  nor  corner  hid  from  the  light  and  heat  of  it,  but  the 
whole  prospect  stands  out  in  the  clearness  and  splendour  of 
the  highest  noon. 

"The  true  idea  of  scriptural  development  is  this,  that  the 
church,  informed  and  quickened  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  more 
and  more  discovers  what  in  Holy  Scripture  is  given  her; 
but  it  is  not  thus  that  she  unfolds  by  an  independent  power 
anything  further  therefrom.  She  has  always  possessed  what 
she  now  possesses  of  doctrine  and  truth,  only  not  always 
with  the  same  distinctness  of  consciousness.  She  has  not 
added  to  her  wealth,  but  she  has  become  more  and  more 
aware  of  that  wealth;  her  dowry  has  remained' always  the 
same,  but  that  dowry  was  so  rich,  and  so  rare,  that  only 
little  by  little  she  has  counted  over  and  taken  stock  and  in- 
ventory of  her  jewels.  She  has  consolidated  her  doctrine, 
compelled  thereto  by  the  provocation  of  her  efiemies,  or  in- 
duced to  it  by  the  growing  sense  of  her  needs.  She  has 
brought  together  utterances  in  Holy  Writ,  and  those  which, 
apart,  were  comparatively  barren,  when  thus  married — when 
each  had  thus  found  its  complement  in  the  other — have  been 
fruitful  to  her.  Those  which,  apart,  meant  little  to  her, 
have  been  seen  to  mean  much  when  thus  brought  together, 
and  read  each  by  the  light  of  the  other.  In  these  senses 
she  has  enlarged  her  dominion,  her  dominion  having  become 
larger  to  her."  * 

IV.  It  is  not  true,  then,  that  the  Almighty  has  allowed 
any  of  his  dispensations  to  prove  a  failure.  It  is  not  true 

*  See  Trench's  Hulsean  Lecture  for  1853. 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OF   THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.         79 

that  the  religion  of  Eden  proving  a  failure,  another  and  a 
new  one  was  tried;  and  then,  when  the  patriarchal  faith 
failed,  the  Creator  again  tried  t<5  meet  the  wants  of  our  race, 
by  patching  up  the  patriarchal  religion  with  that  of  Moses; 
and  was  again  obliged  to  add  the  teachings  of  the  prophets; 
and,  finally,  becoming  tired  of  the  old  religion  altogether,  he 
superseded  it  by  introducing  Christianity.  This  is  as  false 
as  it  is  blasphemous.  There  is  a  perfect  harmony  through- 
out the  Bible.  Augustin  has  welLsaid,  "Deus  opera  mutat, 
nee  nmtat  consilium."  (Conf.  i.  4.)  In  all  the  various 
modes  used  for  communicating  the  divine  will,  we  find  but 
one  and  the  same  religion — the  Pentateuch,  the  Prophets,  the 
Psalms,  the  Gospels,  and  the  Epistles  are  given  to  us  by 
one  and  the  same  Spirit  of  inspiration.  The  revelation  is 
from  God,  and  the  record  of  that  revelation  is  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Bible  not  only  contains  the 
word  of  God,  but  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God,  who  is  our 
Maker  and  final  Judge. 

Though  the  writers  of  the  Bible  are  scattered  over  more 
than  twenty  centuries,  its  several  books  are  but  different 
members  of  one  organized  whole,  and  each  member  is  per- 
fectly adapted  to  the  great  purpose  of  the  divine  Author, 
and  pointing  all  the  time  to  him  as  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  we  have  received  the 
atonement. 

It  certainly  cannot  follow  because,  as  Bretschneider  states, 
and  truly,  that  the  doctrines  of  God  and  morality  are  far 
more  perfectly  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  by  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  Apostles,  than  in  the  Old  Testament,  that, 
therefore,  the  Old  Testament  is  obsolete.  This  were  to  say 
that  the  lad  were  lost  in  the  man.  The  morning  and  the 
evening  are  but  one  day.  But  the  morning  twilight  is  in 
order  to  the  noon-day  splendour.  To  say  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  superfluous,  and  of  no  authority,  in  the  church  of 


80  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

God,  because,  in  spirituality  and  higher  morals,  it  has  been 
surpassed  by  the  New  Testament,  is  absurd.  A  boy's  gram- 
mar was  just  the  book  he  wanted  when  he  had  to  learn  the 
elements  of  language.  And  in  manhood  the  grammar  of 
his  youth  is  not  superfluous  or  lost  because  he  embodies  all 
the  knowledge  it  contained,  and  even  more.  The  elements 
of  language  are  not  superfluous  to  the  language  matured. 
If  the  promises,  types,  and  predictions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment be  arranged,  therefore,  as  stars,  in  clusters  and  con- 
stellations, we  can  readily  see  how  one  arose  in  Eden,  and 
another  to  Enoch,  and  another  to  Noah  after  the  flood,  and 
another  to  Abraham,  and  another  and  another,  till  the  whole 
heavens  became  luminous,  when  the  star  in  the  East  guided 
the  wise  men  to  the  infant  Redeemer  at  Bethlehem. 

V.  We  are  now  prepared,  I  trust,  to  say  that  "  the  angel 
of  the  Lord/'  the  angel  of  Jehovah's  presence,  and  the  di- 
vine manifestations  made  in  the  Old  Testament,  were  fore- 
shadowings  of  the  great  Incarnation.  In  them  the  Son  of 
God  declared  that  his  delights  were  with  the  sons  of  men 
from  all  eternity,  and  was  manifesting  forth  his  glory  in 
such  measure  as  was  proper  to  keep  alive  the  promise  of  his 
coming,  when  the  fulness  of  time  should  arrive.  And  in 
the  application  of  the  appellation  Angel  of  Jehovah  to  the 
Messiah,  we  have  a  proof  of  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 
Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared 
him."  "  He  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh." — John  i.  18  j  1 
Tim.  iii.  16.  '• 

It  is  not,  therefore,  without  reason  that  the  learned  are 
of  the  opinion  that  this  ninth  verse  is  of  peculiar  construc- 
tion and  emphasis,  meaning  that  it  was  the  Lord  God  him- 
self to  whom  Manoah  prayed,  who  hearkened  to  his  voice, 


THE   THEOPHANIES    OE   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.         81 

and  then  appeared  to  him  and  his  wife,  and  that  he  ap- 
peared to  them  in  the  person  of  his  Son,  veiled  as  an  angel. 

VI.  In  all  the  varieties  of  manner  in  which,  in  times 
past,  God  spake  unto  the  fathers,  the  Logos,  the  Word,  of 
John  i.,  was  the  Revealer.  This  is  emphatically  true  of 
the  revelations  made  by  the  Angel- Jehovah.  In  the  reve- 
lation of  the  divine  will  "  by  facts,  by  words,"  and  by  ap- 
pearances, or  visible  forms  of  the  divine  glory,  of  which 
record  is  made  in  the  Old  Testament,  there  is  a  constant  re- 
ference to  the  Author  of  Creation,  implying  by  such  a  re- 
ference the  right  and  power  to  make  all  such  revelations; 
but  the  most  remarkable  manifestation  of  the  Logos,  "  the 
Word/7  in  the  Old  Testament,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken, 
is  this  of  the  Angel-Jehovah.  x 

This  is  the  mysterious  persoeage  who  appeared  to  Abra- 
ham, uthe  friend  of  God/7  who  rejoiced  in  seeing  Messiah's 
day.  And  in  the  various  passages  of  scripture  in  which  the 
appearance  of  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  is  described,  we  find 
him  using  the  first  person,  and  speaking,  and  acting,  and 
receiving  homage  and  worship,  not  as  a  distinct  person  from, 
but  as  the  manifestation  or  visible  operation  of  the  God- 
head. The  Angel  of  the  Lord,  then,  is  to  be  understood 
as  Jehovah-Jesus  in  his  visibility.  And  in  this  manifesta- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  Theophanies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, we  have,  in  some  degree,  an  explanation  of  how  he 
came  to  be  "  the  desire  of  all  nations  /'  for  it  is  well  known 
that  heathen  nations  of  old,  both  savage  and  civilized,  had 
some  notion  of  the  incarnation  of  their  gods,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  such  incarnation. 

If  we  are  not  mistaken,  Messiah  Jesus  is  expressly  called 
an  Angel,  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  plainly  so  represented  in  the  New.  In  addition  to  the 
texts  which  represent  the  Logos  as  the  Revealer  of  God, 
there  are  some  that  speak  of  the  same  personage  as  an  An- 


82  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

gel,  the  Angel.  The  promise  to  Moses  was,  that  on  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Lord  himself,  as  he  appeared  to  him  at 
first,  "  my  presence  shall  go  with  thee,  and  I  will  give  thee 
rest."  And  Isaiah  says,  "  In  all  their  afflictions  he  was 
afflicted,  and  the  Angel  of  his  presence  saved  them."  Ex. 
xxxiii.  14,  and  Isa.  Ixiii.  9.  And  the  Apostle  says,  refer- 
ring to  the  Israelites,  "  Neither  let  us  iempt  Christ  as  some 
of  them  also  tempted  (him,)  and  were  destroyed  of  serpents." 
1  Cor.  x.  9.  And  again,  "  Behold,  I  send  an  Angel  before 
thee,  to  keep  thee  in  the  way ;  beware  of  him,  and  obey  his 
voice ;  provoke  him  not,  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  trans- 
gressions ;  for  my  Name  is  in  him."  This  is  clearly  a  pro- 
mise of  a  distinct  divine  person,  who  was  to  go  with  them ; 
the  same,  doubtless,  who  appeared  in  the  pillar  cloud. 
This  whole  class  of  texts  is  explained  still  further  by  refer- 
ring to  Hebrews  iii.  1 :  "  Wherefore,  holy  brethren,  par- 
takers of  the  heavenly  calling,  consider  the  Apostle  and 
High  Priest  of  our  profession,  Christ  Jesus."  Now  the 
etymology  of  the  term  Apostle  shows  that  it  is  identical  in 
signification  with  angel.  But  one  part  of  the  Apostle's 
argument  in  this  epistle  is  to  show  Christ's  superiority  to 
angels ;  there  was,  then,  a  reason  why  he  should  not  use  in 
this  place  the  ordinary  term,  but  the  corresponding  one. 
Both  angel  and  apostle  mean  one  sent.  Our  Lord  repeat- 
edly spoke  of  himself  as  one  sent,  or  come  from  the  Father. 
John  iii.  16,  34;  vi.  29;  x.  36;  xx.  21,  and  elsewhere. 
The  Apostle's  argument,  and  the  design  of  the  whole  epistle, 
require  that  we  understand  his  allusion  in  this  place  to  be 
to  the  Angel  of  Jehovah — of  the  divine  presence  spoken  of 
in  the  Old  Testament.  As  Christ  is  emphatically  "he  whom 
God  hath  sent,"  so  he  says  :  Let  us  consider  the  Apostle  and 
High  Priest  of  our  profession — and  we  shall  see  that  in 
Christianity  we  have  a  Messenger  from  God,  who  is  higher 
than  the  angels  of  the  Old  Testament — who  is  the  Angel- 


THE   TIIEOPHANIES    OF   THE   OLD    TESTAMENT.         83 

Jehovah  himself,  The  Old  Testament  saints  were  believers 
in  the  same  Redeemer  that  Stephen  saw,  standing  on  the 
right  hand  of  God.  I  beg  to  conclude  this  subject  by  quot- 
ing the  following  passages  from  Dr.  Mill  and  Professor  Ols- 
hausen : 

"  The  Angel  of  the  Lord  who  preceded  the  children  of 
Israel  from  Egypt,  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  fire,  was  the 
Lord  himself,  (agreeably  to  Ex.  xiii.  20,  21,  and  xiv.  19, 
20  ',  Numb.  xx.  6,  etc.,)  possessor  of  the  incommunicable 
name,  Jehovah ;  and  that  this  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  as  he 
is  termed  in  Mai.  iii.  1 ',  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  16,  etc.,  is  the  un- 
created Word,  who  appeared  in  visible  form  to  Jacob  and 
Moses,  and  who  was,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  incarnate  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  known  undoubted  faith 
of  the  church  of  God,  and  need  not  to  be  enlarged  on  here. 
This  same  uncreated  Angel,  in  whom  was  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  is  promised  by  the  mouth  of  Moses/'  Olshausen,  in 
one  of  his  tracts  on  "  The  deeper  sense  of  scripture," 
beautifully  illustrates  the  sense  in  which  the  old  dispensa- 
tion, the  law  and  the  prophets,  is  fulfilled  in  the  ,New  Tes- 
tament:  "The  law,  with  all  its  ordinances,  is  like  a  grain 
of  seed  which  includes  in  itself  the  whole  law  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  plant.  Should  the  plant  spring  up,  the  grain 
of  seed  must  die ;  a  power  which  would  cause  it  to  continue 
in  its  isolated  subsistence,  would  be  just  as  destructive  as 
the  Judaizing  teachers,  with  whom  Paul  was  forced  to  con- 
tend. But  notwithstanding  such  a  fact,  the  law  of  the 
germ  which  lives  no  longer,  invisibly  penetrates  the  entire 
plant ;  so  that  in  the  plant's  concentrated  formations,  the 
law,  renewing  its  youth,  repeatedly  presents  itself  again 
in  the  fruit.  Thus  the  law  was  apparently  dissolved  by 
Christ,  but  only  in  order  to  be  fulfilled  in  its  spirit  in  every 
iota." 

In  conclusion,  1.  Our  aim  in  this  chapter,  as  in  the  third, 


84  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

lias  been  to  vindicate  the  plan  of  God's  revelation  as  well 
as  .the  revelation  itself,  by  showing  that  infinite  wisdom 
has  not  mad£  any  mistake  in  the  different  dispensations 
from  Adam  to  Christ.  Our  blessed  Lord  never  let  a  hint 
fall  from  his  lips  that  any  part  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
done  away.  On  the 'contrary,  he  made  it  the  basis  of  all 
his  teachings,  as  did  his  apostles  after  him.  And  through- 
out his  whole  ministry,  he  represents  himself  as  fulfilling  in 
his  person  and  office,  the  scheme  of  divine  love  as  revealed 
in  the  law  and  the  Psalms  and  the  prophets.  The  Old  Tes- 
tament and  his  own  sayings  are  alike  imperishable.  (See 
Matt.  xxiv.  35 ;  and  Luke  xxiv."  44.)  He  came  into  the 
world  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  and  make  an  end  of  trans- 
gression by  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  to  God,  to  satisfy 
divine  justice,  and  reconcile  us  to  God.  And  in  doing  this 
all  things  were  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning 
him.  He  came  therefore  not  to  annihilate,  or  abrogate, 
but  to  confirm  and  re-institute — "  to  build  again"— "  not  to 
perpetuate  the  former  scheme,  but  to  extend  and  to  develope 
it."  The  glorious  Architect  in  the  New-  Testament  brings 
out  clearly  the  original  design  of  the  Old  Testament,  which 
had  not  before  been  so  clearly  seen.  The  Old  Testament 
is  the  basis  on  which  the  New  is  erected,  and  the  stability 
and  completeness  of  both  depend  on  their  connection.  The 
Old  was  the  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  which  gave 
certain  assurance  of  the  reality  of  the  good  things  to  come, 
and  some  idea  of  their  nature,  size,  and  proportions.  The 
Nefr  Testament  is  the  embodiment  and  the  record  of  those 
good  things.  From  Genesis  to  Malachi  we  have  the  out- 
line of  the  picture,  and  from  Matthew  to  John  the  divine, 
we  have  its  filling  up  and  colouring.  And  the  whole  is  the 
record  of  a  great  and  precious  salvation.  The  whole  his- 
tory of  the  Jewish  people,  their  ritual  and  government,  is 


THE   THEOPHANIES   OF   THE    OLD    TESTAMENT.          85 

one  grand  prophecy  of  the  future  Redeemer.  The  Old  Tes- 
tament is  as  full  of  the  Messiah,  the  age  of  the  world  con- 
sidered, as  the  New  Testament  is  full  of  Christ. 

"Abraham,  the  saint,  rejoiced  of  old 

When  visions  of  the  Lord  he  saw  ; 
Moses,  the  man  of  God,  foretold 
This  great  fulfiller  of  his  law. 

"The  types  bore  witness, to  his  name, 

Obtained  their  chief  design,  and  ceased  : 
The  incense  and  the  bleeding  lamb, 
The  ark,  the  altar,  and  the  priest." 

•  2.  Let  us  then  study  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  the 
New.  "The  word  of  God,  which  is  contained  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  is  the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how  we 
may  glorify  and  enjoy  him." 

Valuable  helps  for  studying  the  Bible  are  now  happily 
within  the  reach  of  Sabbath-school  teachers  and  the  heads 
of  families.  Bible  dictionaries,  concordances,  maps  of  the 
holy  land,  Bible  illustrations,  and  oriental  travels  may  be 
consulted  with  great  advantage.  But  above  all,  let  us  ever 
pray  for  the  illumination  of  the  divine  Spirit  on  the  sacred 
page,  and  let  us  search  it  with  the  docility  and  trustfulness 
of  a  little  child. 

3.  One  can  hardly  fail  to  be  impressed,  as  we  are  study- 
ing the  Bible,  especially  the  record  of  patriarchal  times,  and 
of  the  appearance  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  with  the  idea 
that  we  are  very  near  to  God.  We  seem  to  see  his  form 
among  the  trees  of  Eden,  and  to  hear  his  voice  as  he  calls 
to  Abraham  on  Mount  Moriah.  The  riven  peaks  of  Mount 
Sinai  seem  yet  to  speak  of  his  awful  glory.  It  was  the 
Lord's  hand  that  shut  Noah  into  the  ark,  and  as  an  angel 
he  talked  with  the  patriarchs,  and  by  his  Spirit,  he  dwelt 
8 


86  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

in  the  prophets.  But  in  the  New  Testament  we  are 
brought  nearer  still  to  God — to  God  on  a  throne  of  mercy, 
whence  we  ma'y  obtain  forgiveness  and  grace  for  every  time 
of  need. 

4.  The  lives  of  Old  Testament  worthies  in  such  close 
communion  with  God  breathe  also  a  pilgrim-like  air.     They 
declared  plainly  that  they  were  seeking  a  better  country, 
that  is,  an  heavenly;  and  God  was  not  ashamed  to  be  called 
their   God,  for  he   hath   prepared  for   them   a  city.     See 
Hebrews  xi.     Are  we  then  like  them,  pilgrims  and  strangers? 
Is  our  home  in  heaven  ?     Our  home  is  where  our  heart  and 
treasures  are.     But  as  our  life  is  a  journey,  on  what  road 
do  we  travel,  and  whither  does  it  lead?     On  the  busy,  dusty, 
jostling  high  road  of  humanity,  we  find  many  turns  and 
many  rough  places,  and  many  a  weary  hour  and  many  a 
dark  and  heavy  storm  lowers  over  it.     But  cheer  up,  fellow 
pilgrim,  many  are  on  the  same  road  with  you.     Many  have 
travelled  it  before  you,  who  are  now  safely  arrived,  in  glory. 
There  is  one  who  passed  along  this  same  road,  travelling  in  the 
greatness  of  his  strength,  and  as  he  overcame,  so  does  he 
give  grace  and  glory  to  all  who  follow  in  his  footsteps.     You 
are  every  hour  coming  nearer  to  your  home,  where  storms 
will  cease,  and  the  weary  will  be  for  ever  at  rest.     If  the 
night  is  long  and  dark,  the  morning  will  only  be  the  more 
joyful.     If,  as  pilgrims,  you  endure  hardships  in  the  wilder- 
ness, the  land  of  promise  will  be  all  the  more  pleasant  be- 
cause of  these  trials  by  the  way. 

5.  How  truly  astonishing   is  the  divine  condescension ! 
The  long-suffering  of  our  God  is  our  salvation.     As  he  has 
been  pleased  to  give  us  the  sacred  word,  we  are  not  to  ex- 
pect angelic  visitors  to  teach  us  our  duty.     The  divine  word 
is  a  sufficient  rule  to  teach  us  what  to  believe,  and  what  to 
do,  to  be  saved.     The  spirit  that  was  in  the  prophets  and 


THE   THEOPHANIES   OF   THE   OLD    TESTAMENT.         87 

apostles  is  promised  to  us.  The  great  Messiah  has  come. 
We  have  seen  his  glory,  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father.  And  are  we  not,  some  of  us,  witnesses  of  his  grace 
and  truth — that  he  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sin?  Let 
us  ever  adore  him  as  our  Saviour,  and  to  him  be  glory  for 
ever.  Amen. 


88  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 


CHAPTEK    VI. 

THE   FAMILY   SACRIFICE   AND   CONFERENCE. 

" In  his  face 

Terror  and  sweetness  laboured  for  the  place  : 
Some-times  his  sun-bright  eyes  would  shine  so  fierce 
As  if  their  pointed  beams  would  even  pierce 
The  soul  arid  strike  the  amaz'd  beholder  dead ; 
Sometimes  their  glory  would  disperse  and  spread 
More  easy  flame,  and  like  the  star  that  stood 
O'er  Bethlehem,  promise  and  portend  some  good : 
Mixt  was  his  bright,  aspect,  as  if  his  breath 
Had  equal  errands  both  of  life  and  death  : 
Glory  and  mildness  seemed  to  contend 
In  his  fair  eyes." — Quarlea. 

IN  Judges  xiii.  10,  11,  the  angel  is  called  a  man.  In 
this  the  writer  follo.ws  the  woman,  and  both  speak  of  him, 
as  he  appeared  to  them.  As  soon  as  the  angel  appeared  the 
second  time  to  the  woman,  she  respectfully  entreated  that 
he  would  wait  till  she  could  go  and  fetch  her  husband; 
and  having  obtained  assurance  that  he  would  tarry,  she  runs 
for  Manoah.  The  pious  of  those  days  were  familiar  with 
angelic  visitors,  who  appeared  in  the  form  and  usual  dress 
of  prophets  or  men  of  God.  Sometimes  they  were  distin- 
guished by  a  peculiar  majesty  and  sublimity  of  appearance. 
Pictures  of  angels  still  represent  them  with  a  glory  around 
their  head.  It  is  only  in  the  emblematic  descriptions  of 
them,  that  they  are  said  to  have  win<j;s.  It  is  a  mistake  to 


THE   FAMILY    SACRIFICE   AND    CONFERENCE.  89 

represent  this  angel  with  wings  and  in  a  white  robe,  as  is 
.generally  done. 

In  verses  twelve  and  fourteen,  Manoah  responds  amen  to 
all  the  angel  says.  As  if  he  had  said,  Let  all  you  have  pro- 
mised to  my  wife  come  to  pass.  I  believe.  "  But  how  shall 
we  order  the  child,  and  how  shall  we  do  unto  him?"  or  as  it 
is  in  the  Hebrew,  What  shall  be  the  rule  by  which  we  shall 
govern  and  teach  him?  In  the  fifteenth  and  twenty-first 
verses,  inclusive,  we  have  the  conference  of  the  angel  with 
Manoah  and  his  wife,  and  their  sacrifice,  and  the  angel's 
ascent  into  heaven. 

Bread,  in  the  sixteenth  verse,  is  to  be  taken,  as  it  is  often 
in  the  Bible,  for  food  in  general.  (2  Kings  vi.  22,  23  ; 
Matt.  vi.  11.)  It  is  not  easy  to  see  the  connection  of  this 
verse,  if  we  suppose  that  all  the  conversation  is  recorded. 
If  all  is  written  that  passed  between  them,  then  this  verse 
seems  to  be  an  answer  to  what  was  in  Manoah's  mind,  rather 
than  a  reply  to  anything  he  had  actually  said.  The  same 
thing  is  found  in  the  New  Testament.  Our  Lord  several 
times  replies  to  what  was  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  rather 
than  to  any  objection  stated,  or  question  really  put,  so  far 
as  the  record  goes.  , 

The  angel  does  not  deny  that  he  was  a  man,  nor  does  he 
deny  that  he  was  God.  He  speaks  to  Manoah  in  the  char- 
acter that  he  knew  Manoah  understood  him  to  be,  and  re- 
minds him  that  sacrifices  must  be  offered  to  Jehovah  only. 
Just  as  when  our  Lord  said  in  reply  to  one  who  addressed 
him  as  "good  Master,"  "Why  callest  thou  me  good?  there 
is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God."  He  did  not  deny  that 
he  was  God,  or  affirm  that  he  was  not  himself  good,  the 
supreme  goodness.  He  meant  to  gay,  So  supreme  in  good- 
ness is  God,  that  comparatively  it  is  not  proper  to  say  that 
any  one  else  is  good;  and  besides,  if  I  am  really  what  you 
say  I  am,  then  why  do  you  not  receive  my  testimony?  In 
8* 


90  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

all  such  places,  the  answer  is  obviously  made  according  to 
the  state  of  the  mind  of  the  person  addressed,  and  not  in- 
tended to  express  the  truth  as  known  to  the  speaker.  The 
angel  replies  therefore  to  Manoah  according  to  the  light 
Manoah  had.  He  does  not  forbid  him  to  sacrifice,  nor  does 
he  tell  him  he  must  uot  sacrifice  to  him.  He  does  remind 
him,  however,  that  if  he  offered  sacrifice,  it  must  be  to  God. 
As  though  he  had  said  to  him,  Be  careful  that  your  sacrifice 
be  in  sincerity  and  truth,  and  in  just  the  way  that  God  has 
appointed;  otherwise  it  will  not  be  acceptable  in  his  sight. 
The  angel  says,  I  have  no  need  of  this  food  Arid  if  you 
are  going  to  offer  a  sacrifice,  offer  it  to  Jehovah  only.  The're 
is  then  no  angel  worship  here.  Manoah  may  have  intended 
a  mere  act  of  hospitality  first,  and  that  then  they  would 
unite  together  in  worship,  and  offer  up  a  part  of  it  as  a  burnt- 
offering.  Manoah  may  have  remembered  how  Abraham  of- 
fered to  render  worship  before  an  angel,  and  have  desired 
to  imitate  him.  And  yet  he  was  in  doubt,  if  indeed  he  had 
any  suspicion  of  the  angelic  character  of  his  visitor.  He 
did  not  yet  know  that  he  was  an  angel  of  the  Lord.  And 
besides,  if  he  had  intended  to  worship  an  angel,  he  did  not 
do  so.  The  apostle  John,  and  the  prophet  Daniel  also, 
we  remember,  were  prevented  from  rendering  homage  to 
angels. 

The  objection  that  Manoah  was  not  a  priest,  and  there- 
fore had  no  right  to  offer  sacrifice,  belongs  to  that  obsolete 
idea,  that  almighty  grace  is  straitened,  and  can  flow  only  in 
one  narrow  channel.  He  who  made  Melchizedek  a  priest 
and  king,  could  make  Manoah  a  priest.  The  command  or 
permission  of  the  angel  was  sufficient  authority,  and  the 
acceptance  of  the  offering  is  proof  that  it  was  rightly  done. 
Christ  Jesus  himself  is  a  priest  not  after  the  Aaronic  model. 
He  came  not  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  And  yet  he  is  exalted 
above  all  lawgivers,  priests,  and  angels,  and  set  down  at  the 


THE   FAMILY    SACRIFICE  AND    CONFERENCE.  91 

right  hand  of  God,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour  and  a  Priest  to 
appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us. 

"  What  is  thy  name  ?"  In  the  Bible  name  is  sometimes 
equivalent -to  nature,  essence,  and  glory.  Is  Manoah  rebuked 
here  for  unhallowed  curiosity  ?  I  do  not  see  wherein  he 
was  guilty.  There  is  nothing  intended  to  be  improper, 
impertinent,  or  irreverent  in  his  manner  or  language.  Nor 
does  it  appear  that  he  had  been  told  before,  or  could  have 
learned  in  any  way,  that  the  name  of  the  visitor  was  not  to 
be  known,  but  was  "secret,"  wonderful,  ineffable.  The 
same  Hebrew  word  here  translated  secret  is  rendered  won- 
derful, as  has  been  already  stated,  in  Isaiah  ix.  6  j  where  it 
is  most  unquestionably  applied  to  the  Messiah,  who  is 
Christ.  The  idea  expressed  here  is  one  of  wonder  at  super- 
human works,  or  on  beholding  miraculous  interpositions. 
And  Manoah  and  his  wife  looked  on  in  astonishment,  as  "  the 
angel  did  wondrously."  Bush's  paraphrase  is  to  the  point : 
"  You  have  scarcely  any  real  occasion  to  inquire  as  to  my 
name,  (nature ;)  it  is  obvious  from  the  words,  promises,  and 
actions  already  witnessed  and  yet  further  to  be  displayed, 
that  I  am,  and  am  therefore  to  be  called,  Peli,  the  admirable 
one,  the  great  worker  of  wonders,  the  master  of  miracles. 
The  original  has  the  form  of  a  proper  name,  but  the  force 
of  an  appellative."  May  not  the  angel  have  wished  to  con- 
vey to  their  mind  that  he  was  the  angel  promised  in  Ex. 
xxiii.  20,  21  ?  Have  we  here  anything  more  than  an 
epitome  of  the  conversation  held  between  the  angel  and 
Manoah  and  his  wife  ?  For  the  true  character  of  this  an- 
gel, see  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  meat-offering,  in  the  nineteenth  verse,  is  not  a  happy 
translation.  It  should  be  a  "  flour-offering,"  such  as  the 
law  prescribed.  "  And  offered  it  upon  a  rock,"  just  as 
Gideon  did.  Detached  rocks  of  the  proper  size  for  a  table 
or  an  altar  abound  throughout  the  country.  Mounds  of 


92  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

earth  or  stones  were  used  as  altars  in  the  earliest  times. 
And  while  Manoah  and  his  wife  were  offering  their  sacrifice 
unto  the  Lord,  "  the  angel  did  wondrously."  Angel  is  not 
in  the  original,  but  it  is  rightly  supplied.  There  is  no 
doubt  of  the  meaning.  It  was  the  angel  that  did  won- 
drously.  The  angel  acted  according  to  his  name.  Being 
wonderful  in  his  nature,  it  was  natural  for  him  to  perform 
wonderful  things.  What  the  wonders  were,  we  are  not  told. 
Probably  among  the  things  which  he  did  was  to  manifest 
more  of  his  divine  glory,  and  to  cause  fire  to  fall  from  hea- 
ven, as  on  Abraham's  sacrifice,  and  Elijah's;  or  to  come 
"out  of  the  rock  to  consume  the  offering,  as  the  angel  did 
who  appeared  to  Gideon.  As  the  smoke  of  the  Sacrifice 
went  up  toward  heaven,  the  angel  ascended  in  the  flames, 
as  if  they  were  his  chariot.  And  now  Manoah's  conviction 
§  is  perfect.  His  mind  no  doubt  had  been  gradually  opening 
to  the  truth.  But  now  he  knew  that  he  was  an  angel  of 
the  Lord. 

"  And  Manoah  said  unto  -his  wife,  We  shall  surely  die, 
because  we  have  seen  God." 

1.  Here  is  a  domestic  conference,  in  which  the  wife  is 
the  best  counsellor.      A  common  notion  prevailed  among 
the  ancient  Jews  that  it  was  death  to  see  the  face  of  God, 
or  of  an  unveiled  angel.     Manoah's  fears  were -probably  ex- 
cited by  this  prevailing  notion.    '  He  may  indeed  have  had 
in  his  mind  what  the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  when  he  entreated 
to  see  his  glory  :  "  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face ;  for  there 
shall  no   man   see  me  and  live//     Jacob  also  speaks  of  his 
wrestling  with  the  angel,  and  of  his  having  seen  God  face 
to  face,  and  yet  his  life  was  preserved,  as  something  wonder- 
ful.   Gen.   xxxii.   29,  30.      Manoah's   apprehensions  then 
were  not  wholly  groundless,  yet  we  cannot  but  admire  the 
faith  and  composure  of  his  wife. 

2.  Manoah's  alarm  was  true  to  fallen  humanity.     Guilt 


THE   FAMILY    SACIUi'ICE  AND   CONFERENCE.  93 

is  always  suspicious.  Adam  and  Eve  were  afraid  and  Lid 
themselves  wlien  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  in 
the  garden.  So  Manoah  and  his  wife,  instead  of  looking 
up  to  heaven  thankfully,  fell  down  upon  the  earth  half  dead 
with  fear.  It  is  our  infirmity  to  pervert  divine  "blessings 
into  omens  of  evil.  Our  eyes  are  so  weak  that  we  are  con- 
founded with  what  should  comfort  us.  We  are  prone' to 
find  death  in  the  vision  that  God  gives  us  announcing  life. 
We  write  bitter  things,  while  God  writes'  unspeakably  pre- 
cious promises.  The  limits  of  grace  and  goodness  are  made 
by  ourselves,  and  not  by  our  heavenly  Father.  He  is  in- 
finitely better  to  us  than  our  own  fears.  His  mercies  sur- 
pass our  largest  hopes.  The  gospel  offer  is  made  to  us  in 
perfect  good  faith.  Salvation  is  always  of  the  Lord,  and 
damnation  is  always  the  sinner's  own  'work.  The  guilt  of 
perdition  rests  on  the  sinner's  own  head.  God  is  a  sove- 
reign. Grace  is  sufficient,  and  the  sinner  is  free. 

3.  The  wife's  reply  is  nobly  put  and  ably  applied.  Her 
reasoning  is  remarkably  correct.  Her  theology  is  as  sound 
as  if  she  had  been  educated  by  the  Synod  of  Dort,  or  by 
the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines.  It  is  precisely  the 
style  of  reasoning  David  adopted  when  he  was  in  trouble. 
He  often  calls  upon  his  soul  to  hope  in  God  for  the  future, 
by  remembering  the  divine  goodness  in  times  past.  Moses 
used  the  same  plea  for  an  extension  of  divine  forbearance 
and  patience  towards  the  rebellious  Israelites.  And  Paul 
used  the  same  train  of  argument  to  prove  the  final  and  com- 
plete triumph  of  a  believer.  "  God  commendeth  his  love 
toward  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died 
for  us.  Much  more  then,  being  now  justified  by  his  blood, 
we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  For  if  when 
we  were  sinners,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of 
his  Son  •  much  more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved 
by  his  life."  Rom.  v.  8-10 


94  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

"But  his  wife  said  unto  him.  If  the  Lord  were  pleased 
to  kill  us,  he  would  not  have  received  a  burnt-offering  and  a 
meat-offering  at  our  hands."  This  the  husband  in  his  panic 
seems  to  have  forgotten.  But  the  wife  continues  to  remind 
him  how  the  Lord  had  showed  them  also  all  things  con- 
cerning the  birth  and  education  of  their  son,  and  had  told 
them  of  the  great  commission  he  was  to  execute  as  Israel's 
deliverer.  Hence  she  concluded  it  could  not  be  that  they 
were  to  die.  The  accomplishment  of  the  promise  implies 
that  the  Lord  would  not  kill  them.  If  the  Lord  were 
pleased  to  kill  us  now,  he  would  not  have  shown  us  such 
things  as  these  at  this  time. 

It  is  a  safe  method  for  us  to  follow — to  plead  God's  past 
mercies  as  a  ground  of  hope  for  the  future.  His  rule  is 
grace  upon  grace.  He  that  has,  receives  more.  It  is  not 
irreverent  to  say  that  he  who  gave  his  Son  for  us,  will  with 
him  give  us  all  things.  Is  it  then  reasonable  to  fear  that 
he  who  has  preserved  us  forty  years  will  fail  us  for  the  next 
twenty,  if  our  pilgrimage  should  continue  so  long  ?  He  who 
made  you,  aged  friend,  and  gave  his  Son  to  redeem  you, 
will  not  suffer  you  to  perish  for  the  want  of  meaner  things. 
And  the  feeling  of  your  need  of  his  grace,  is  a  proof  that 
he  is  waiting  to  be  gracious.  Even  the  anxious  inquiry 
after  salvation  proves  that  the  work  is  already  begun. 
Penitential  pangs  are  not  natural,  but  gracious,  and  argue 
that  God  has  laid  his  hand  upon  us.  And  he  is  a  rock. 
All  his  works  are  perfect.  He  will  not  leave  his  work  of 
grace  half  finished.  Nor  would  he  have  told  us  such  things 
of  his  love  and  grace — he  would  not  have  manifested  such 
unwillingness  to  destroy  the  impenitent,  as  we  find  in  the 
Scriptures,  nor  have  exercised  such  long-suffering  and 
patience  as  we  see  in  history  and  in  the  events  of  every  day 
life,  if  he  did  not  offer  pardon  and  eternal  life  to  us  in  per- 
fect good  faith  on  the  terms  propounded  in  the  gospel. 


THE   FAMILY   SACRIFICE  AND   CONFERENCE.  95 

And  surely  the  argument  from  past  experience  should  be 
a  satisfactory  one.  Experience  worketh  hope,  and  hope 
maketh  not  ashamed.  Romans  v.  4,  5.  Is  it  not  an  im- 
peachment of  the  divine  sincerity,  to  fear  that  if  God  begins 
a  good  work,  he  will  not  complete  it?  If  he  has  preserved 
us  so  long — borne  with  our  waywardness  and  pardoned  our 
transgressions,  may  we  not  trust  him,  for  time  to  come-? 
May  we  not  trust  in  the  loving-kindness  of  him  who  so 
loved  us  as  to  give  his  Son  to  redeem  us  ?  It  cannot  be 
that  supreme  benevolence  tantalizes  us — keeps  us  as  the  Phil- 
istines did  Samson  to  make  sport  of  us  on  some  great  occa- 
sion. If  so,  why  has  he  ever  opened  our  hearts  to  our  need 
of  salvation  ?  Why  do  we  feel  our  guilt,  and  desire  to 
escape  from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  Surely  he  would  not  have 
showed  us  all  these  things,  nor  would  he  at  this  time  have 
told  us  such  things  as  these,  if  the  Lord  were  pleased  to 
kill  us.  Surely  he  would  not  have  announced  to  us  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  gospel — would  not  have  made  to  us  such 
full  and  free  offers  of  mercy,  if  he  were  not  pleased  to  ac- 
cept us.  Surely  there  is  honesty  in  the  declaration  :  "  It  is 
a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners" — even  the  chief 
of  sinners.  God's  acceptance  of  the  sacrifice  of  his  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  is  a  positive  proof  that  his  merits  and  media- 
tion are  available  for  us.  According  to  the  Scriptures, 
Christ  died  for  our  sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification, 
and  now  appears  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  as  our  High 
Priest  and  ever-living  Intercessor.  Paul,  in  all  his  epistles, 
but  especially  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  insists  upon  the 
fact  that  Christ  is  now  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne 
of  God,  as  conclusive  that  he  is  superior  to  Moses  and  Aaron 
and  all  the  angels.  And  the  evidence  moreover  of  his  ac- 
ceptance at  the  right  hand  of  God  is  rendered  complete  by 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  take  of  the  things  which 


96  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

are  his,  and  show  them  unto  us — convincing  the  world  of 
sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  And  since  God  has 
not  withheld  from  us  his  only  Son,  but  hath  commended  his 
love  to  us,  in  that  he  gave  his  Son  to  die  for  us,  while  we 
were  yet  his  enemies ;  how  much  more  will  he  not  give  us 
all  things  on  account  of  the  gift  of  his  Son  ?  Wherefore 
we  beseech  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God ; 
for  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin — a  sin-offering — for  us, 
though  he  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  him.  Wherefore  Jesus  also,  that  he 
might  sanctify  the  people  with  his  own  blood,  suffered  with- 
out the  gate.  Let  us  go  forth  therefore  unto  him  without 
the  camp,  bearing  his  reuroach.  Heb.  xiii.  12,  13. 


THE   LIFE   OF   THE    HERO    BEGUN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   LIFE    OF   THE    HERO   BEGUN. 

There  are  tones  that  will  haunt  us,  though  lonely 

Our  path  be  o'er  mountain  or  sea ; 
There  are  looks  that  will  part  from  us  only 

When  memory  ceases  to  be  j 
There  are  hopes  which  our  burden  can  lighten, 

Though  toilsome  and  steep  be  the  way  ; 
And  dreams  that,  like  moonlight,  can  brighten 

With  a  light  that  is  clearer  than  day." 

"  AND  the  woman  bare  a  son,  and  called  his  name  Samson." 
The  original  is  Shimshon,  from  the  root  shamash,  to  serve. 
The  Hebrew  for  «un,  Shemesh,  is  probably  from  the  same 
root,  and  means  a  little  servant,  that  is,  a  little  sun.  But 
why  did  they  call  him  Shimshon  (Samson)  ?  What  relation 
had  he  to  the  sun?  Schmid  and  others  say  his  parents  so 
called  him  in  allusion  to  the  shining  of  the  angel's  face,  like 
the  sun,  when  he  first  appeared  to  his  mother.  Others,  and 
more  properly,  say,  because  of  the  resplendent  brightness 
that  surrounded  the  angel  as  he  ascended  out  of  their  sight, 
after  the  sacrifice.  Some  assume  that  maternal  fondness 
selected  this  name  as  a  proper  one  for  an  only  son.  As 
there  is  but  one  sun,  so  she  would  have  but  one  Samson. 
By  whatever  process  his  parents  arrived  at  the  name,  whether 
by  the  etymology  or  derivation  hinted  at,  or  by  some  other, 
they  no  doubt  intended  the  name  of  their  child  to  be  ex- 
pressive of  their  gratitude,  and  a  proof  of  their  pious  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  divine  favour  shown  them. 
9 


£  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

Samson's  history,  like  that  of  Esau  and  Ishmael,  begins 
before  his  birth,  and  like  that  of  Moses,  Samuel,  and  Solomon, 
is  recorded  from  his  birth.  Like  Jeremiah,  he  was  set  apart 
to  a  great  work  from  his  mother's  womb.  There  seems, 
however,  to  have  been  nothing  extraordinary  in  the  manner 
of  his  birth.  The  child  is  always  father  to  the  man;  but  in 
some  this  is  more  apparent  than  in  others.  It  was  so  with 
Samson.  "The  presages  of  the  womb  and  the  cradle  are 
commonly  answered  in  the  life;  it  is  not  the  use  of  God  to 
cast  away  strange  beginnings." — Hall. 

The  record  of  his  childhood  and  early  youth,  which  is 
also  true  of  many  of  the  world's  great  men,  is  scant.  He 
grew,  "and  the  Lord  blessed  him."  That  is,  such  divine 
blessings  rested  on  him  that  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen  he  was 
under  God's  peculiar  protection.  We  cannot  help  feeling, 
however,  some  desire  to  know  more  of  his  boyhood,  that  we 
might  see  how  the  child  was  father  to  the  man.  The  man 
was  most  extraordinary;  how  was  the  boy?  Did  his  com- 
panions, in  the  streets  of  Zorah,  nameless  and  unknown, 
see  anything  in  the  long-haired  boy  that  predicted  he  was 
to  be  the  lion-killer,  and  the  slayer  of  the  lords  of  the 
Philistines  ? 

"And  the  Lord  blessed  him" — caused  him  to  grow  in 
stature  and  strength.  External  providences  favoured  him, 
and  he  was  under  internal  divine  influences. 

"  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him  at  times 
in  the  camp  of  Dan,  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol."  That  is, 
while  he  was  yet  young — yet  at  home  with  his  parents,  and 
subject  unto  them,  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  on  his  heart, 
causing  him  to  feel  the  humiliation  of  his  countrymen,  the 
hatefulness  of  their  subjection  to  such  a  people  as  the  Philis- 
tines, and  exciting  in  him  strong  desires  to  do  something 
for  their  deliverance.  From  his  tenderest  years  God  began 
to  prepare  him  for  the  work  to  which  he  was  called.  It  was 


THE    LIFE    OF    THE    HERO    BEGUN.  & 

a  great  honour  to  have  something  to  do,  and  a  great  mercy 
to  be  prepared  to  do  it.  The  divine  influence  on  him,  I  ap- 
prehend, was  both  gracious  and  miraculous.  True,  the 
power  to  work  miracles,  and  the  gift  of  prophecy,  were  not 
always  and  necessarily  connected  with  an  experience  of  grace. 
They  ought,  indeed,  always  to  have  been  found  united;  but 
historically  we  know  they  were  not.  Nor  are  eminent  gifts 
and  attainments  now  always  found  in  connection  with  per- 
sonal piety.  When  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  moved  the  child 
Samson,  I  suppose  we  are  to  understand  that  he  was  regen- 
erated, and  that  such  ideas  were  put  into  his  youthful  mind, 
and  such  strength  imparted  to  his  growing  frame,  as  God 
saw  would  best  n't  him  for  his  future  work.  And  it  is  just 
so  still.  It  is  as  true  now  as  it  ever  was,  that  God  renews 
the  heart  by  his  Spirit,  and  by  his  providence  prepares  us  for 
the  workt  to  which  he  calls  us  in  this  world.  The'  Holy  Spirit 
that  moved  the  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and  judges,  in  days 
of  old,  is  not  another  Holy  Spirit,  but  the  same,  the  very 
same,  that  eame  down  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  that 
opened^  the  heart  of  Lydia  at  Philippi,  and  dwelt  in  Paul 
and  in  John  the  divine.  Regeneration  is  always  an  act  of 
omnipotence.  True  holiness  is  never  produced  in  us  but  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  The  only  difference  between  the  moving 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  heart  of  a  child  now  and 
among  us,  and  upon  Samson,  lies  in  the  bearing  that  it  had 
in  his  case  upon  his  mission  as  a  judge  and  an  avenger  of 
his  people.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  bestowed  in  an  extraordi 
nary  measure  in  Old  Testament  times,  upon  those  person*, 
whom  the  Lord  had  chosen  to  perform  great  deeds  for  th« 
deliverance  of  his  people. 

The  original  for  "  began  to  move  him  at  times/'  is  pecu- 
liar. According  to  Diodati,  it  means,  to  inspire  magnani- 
mous thoughts  into  him,  and  give  him  a  miraculous  strengtl 
«f  body  and  courage,  and  to  incite  him  to  do  great  an<j 


100  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

more  than  human  acts.  The  radical  word  means  an  anvil, 
and  the  metaphor  seems  to  be  drawn  from  the  repeated  and 
somewhat  violent  shocks  of  the  smith's  hammer.  Thus  did 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  stir  up  Samson.  His  call  was  clear, 
repeated,  and  urgent. 

The  twenty-fifth  verse  seems  to  say  that  a  camp  was 
formed  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  to  give  some  check  to 
the  Philistines;  and  when  the  Hebrews  went  out  for  drill, 
or  to  make  a  demonstration  against  the  enemy,  young  Sam- 
son went  out  with  them,  and  by  various  manifestations  of 
strength  and  couragergave  intimations  of  what  he  would  do 
when  he  should  become  of  age.  This  was  the  bright  sunny 
morning  of  our  hero  judge.  Alas !  that  it  was  so  short.  He 
grew,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him,  in- 
spiring him  with  the  purpose  and  preparing  him  for  the  de- 
liverance of  his  people.  The  sequel  discloses,  however,  the 
painful  fact  that  Samson  did  not  meet  the  possibilities  of 
his  destiny.  His  character  was  not  equal  to  his  gifts.  His 
history  is  a  riddle,  the  unravelling  of  which  is  a  warning  of 
great  significance  to  young  men,  especially  to  such  as  have 
had  pious  parents,  and  begun  life  with  high  religious 
hopes.  His  name  is  a  miracle  and  a  by-word — a  glory  and 
a  shame — proclaiming  divine  sovereignty  and  mercy,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  awful  severity  of  divine  goodness. 

As  Samson's  manhood  is  not  such  as  his  youth  promised, 
let  no  child  of  pious  parents  push  away  this  history,  and  say, 
I  shall  never  disappoint  my  parents.  Do  we  not  read  of 
one  who,  with  quite  as  much  indignation  as  it  is  prudent 
for  any  young  man  to  express,  said,  in  reference  to  a  wicked 
thing,  "Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this  thing?" 
and  yet  he  did  that  very  thing.  Your  baptismal  covenant, 
young  man,  can  hardly  bind  you  more  strictly  than  Samson's 
circumcision  and  Nazaritish  vows  bound  him.  Nor  have 
you  any  right  to  conclude  that  the  gracious  movements  df 


THE    LIFE    OF    THE    HERO    BEGUN.  101 

Mod's  Spirit  will  be  more  effectual  and  persistent  in  you 
than  they  were  iu  him.  It  is  true,  you  may  have  had 
advantages  which  he  had  not — and  yet  it  is  equally  true  that 
many  young  people,  brought  up  as  piously  as  yourselves, 
have  forgotten  their  Bibles,  and  forsaken  the  house  of  God, 
and  made  shipwreck  of  the  faith  and  hope  of  their  parents. 

It  is  painfully  true  that  some  of  the  children  of  great  pro- 
mise, and  high  hopes,  have  turned  out  very  badly.  Their 
sun  has  gone  down  into  the  night  of  sorrow  and  death,  while 
yet  it  was  high  noon;  nor  have  they  fallen  alone.  They 
have  crushed  the  hearts  of  their  parents,  and  brought  their 
gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  Let  the  biography 
of  this  extraordinary  man,  then,  be  a  warning  to  all  the 
young,  of  the  terrific  whirlpools,  and  sunken  rocks,  on  which 
so  many  adventurers  have  made  shipwreck  for  time  and 
eternity. 

The  principles  taught  in  the  foregoing  remarks,  and 
suggested  by  the  early  training  of  our  hero,  are  of  universal 
importance;  but  especially  so  in  a  new  country,  and  in  the 
infancy  of  a  State.  A  great  teaching  philosopher  of  anti- 
quity* asserts,  and  correctly,  too,  that  he  who  is  about  to 
be  a  good  man  in  anything  whatever,  ought  immediately, 
from  childhood,  to  practise,  when  engaged  in  playful  and 
serious  pursuits,  the  very  things  suited  to  the  particular  ob- 
ject he  has  in  view.  Plato's  idea  is,  that  he  who  is  about 
to  make  himself  a  good  farmer,  should  have  playthings  that 
teach  him  about  the  tilling  of  the  ground.  And  he  that  is 
to  be  a  house-builder,  should  play  at  building  children's 
houses.  And  his  parents  or  guardian  should  provide  him 
with  the  implements,  as  toys,  that  should  teach  him  famil- 
iarity with  the  future  employment  of  the  tools  belonging  tc 
the  art  he  is  to  pursue.  The  teacher  of  children  should  en 

*  Plato,  the  Laws,  book  I. 


102  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

deavour  to  make  the  plays  and  pleasures  of  the  child  intro- 
ductory to  his  future  life.  If  a  boy  is  to  be  a  soldier,  he 
should  be  taught  to  walk,  ride,  endure  fatigue,  and  the  like 
things  in  his  sports.  The  child  should  be  taught  what  he 
is  to  do  when  he  is  a  man.  This  principle  is  generally  ac- 
knowledged, and  yet  among  nominal  Christians  nothing  is 
more  apparent  than  the  neglect  of  children  at  home.  It  is 
not  merely  the  neglect  of  family  religion  that  I  deplore,  but 
of  all  proper  family  nurture  and  admonition.  I  am  thorough- 
ly persuaded  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  lawlessness, 
iniquity,  and  corruption  of  the  times  may  be  traced  to  the 
want  of  subordination  and  instruction  in  our  families.  The 
hope  of  the  state  and  of  the  church  is  of  necessity  centered 
in  the  young.  It  is  a  most  imperative  duty,  then,  to  bring 
them  up  in  the  way  they  should  go.  In  wisdom  the  Creator 
has  arranged  that  the  family  should  be  the  first  and  greatest 
of  all  educational  agencies.  The  home,  and  then  the  School 
room,  and  the  house  of  worship,  are  instrumentalities  that 
make  us  what  we  are.  The  home  is  first  and  most  impor- 
tant; there  is  the  root  that  feeds  the  life;  there  the  precious 
metal  is  first  moulded  into  shape  which  may  afterwards  be 
rasped  and  polished,  but  not  recast.  There  lines  may  be 
traced  on  a  yielding  and  pliable  nature,  that  become  as  en- 
during as  if  sculptured  on  stone.  The  lessons  of  our  earliest 
home  are  wrought  into  the  structure  of  the  mind,  and 
give  to  it  shape  and  colouring  more  or  less  indestructible. 
The  mind  of  the  little  one,  in  the  mother's  arms,  is  like  a 
daguerreotype  plate,  that  receives  whatever  image  is  first 
cast  upon  it.  No  subsequent  impressions  can  ever  be  so 
distinct.  And  so  susceptible  is  the  tender  mind,  that  it  is 
ever  taking  impressions.  In  the  granite  rocks  we  find  pre- 
served from  ages  so  long  past  that  we  cannot  name  their 
date,  impressions  of  the  tiniest  leaves  of  the  forest.  So  it  is 
often  the  case  that  words  uttered  carelessly  sink  into  the 


THE   LIFE    OP    THE    HERO    BEGUN.  103 

soul,  and  may  be  traced  upon  its  every  fibre  for  ever  after- 
wards, as  if  written  with  a  pen  of  iron,  and  the  point  of  a 
diamond.  A  breath  covers  the  frosted  window  with  an  icy 
film,  and  a  word,  or  a  cruel  suspicion,  or  a  wicked  gesture 
or  picture,  may  for  ever  crust  the  mirror  of  a  young  heart. 
But  not  only  is  the  young  heart  peculiarly*  susceptible  of 
impressions,  but  it  is,  alas!  prone  to  evil  rather  than  good. 
This  is  true  of  all  men  until  they  are  taught  of  God.  But 
in  the  young  there  is  a  peculiar  aptitude  to  receive  good 
impressions.  Evil  habits  are  not  then  formed;  the  passions 
are  not  then  glowing  like  a  furnace  j  evil  associations  have 
not  then  preoccupied  the  affections.  This  is  the  time  to 
open  the  heart  to  truth,  and  turn  it  to  Grod.  These  oppor- 
tunities are  beyond  all  price.  Hear  the  lesson,  parents  and 
Sabbath-school  teachers. 

All  history,  all  analogy,  and  all  experience  prove  that  in- 
stitutions alone  cannot  keep  a  people  free.  It  is  in  the  in- 
telligence, social  morality,  and  religious  spirit  of  the  people 
that  lies  the  hope  of  our  continuing  to  have  a  free  and  salu- 
tary form  of  government.  It  is  as  plain  and  true  as  that 
there  is  a  sun  in  the  heavens,  pouring  his  light  upon  our 
fields  and  mountains,  and  ripening  our  fruits  and  harvests, 
that  our  rapid  growth  and  great  prosperity  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  moral  causes — our  religiousness  of  character,  and  our 
free  and  wisely  constructed  institutions.  Whenever  we 
lose  our  social  ethics  and  religious  spirit,  we  shall  find  the 
days  of  the  Republic  numbered,  and  the  reign  of  corruption, 
anarchy,  and  tyranny  commenced. 

Family  training  is  a  theme  that  cannot  be  exhausted. 
Even  when  nothing  new  is  elicited  in  urging  its  impor- 
tance, it  is  well  to  bring  old  truths  again  and  again  before 
the  public.  As  in  building  the  pyramids,  stone  was  laid 
upon  stone,  and  course  upon  course,  until  the  huge  pile 
arose,  and  then  it  was  finished  from  the  top  downwards;  so 


104  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

at  home  and  in  earliest  years  the  work  of  education  is  be- 
gun. And  long  afterwards,  by  line  upon  line,  and  precept 
upon  precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  the  mind  is 
developed-,  and  the  moral  character  formed.  The  impor- 
tance of  proper  training  at  home,  and  in  earliest  years,  is 
greatly  enhanced  among  us  by  the  fact  that  our  country  is 
in  a  great  measure  governed  by  young  men,  and  that  our 
young  men  leave  home  early ;  and  yet  almost  all  the  educa- 
tion many  of  them  receive  is  obtained  at  home  and  from 
the  primary  school.  And  when  they  leave  home  they  are 
exposed  to  many  dangers  :  they  are  not  only  from  home, 
but  many  of  them  are  without  proper  female  society ;  they 
are  in  the  season  of  the  passions  }  they  are  ambitious  of 
fame  and  wealth.  It  is  vastly  important,  therefore,  that 
they  be  well  established  in  right  moral  principles.  How 
else  can  we  expect  them  to  resist  the  fascinations  of  vice, 
or  escape  the  corruption  of  a  weakened  moral  sense,  from 
the  infidelity  that  prevails  around  them  ?  Much  has  been 
done  by  our  schools,  lyceums,  lecturings,  libraries,  and 
pulpit  efforts,  for  the  young,  but  we  are  not  satisfied.  The 
results  attained  are  not  commensurate  with  our  hopes,  nor 
with  the  urgencies  of  the  case.  Crime  is  still  on  the  in- 
crease. The  present  course  of  a  very  large  number  of  our 
youth — I  dare  not  say  how  large  a  proportion — is  not  hope- 
ful. The  future  of  American  youth,  physically,  mentally, 
and  socially,  is  not  hopeful.  The  prospect  is  one  of  dimin- 
ished stature  and  strength.  The  hastening  to  be  rich,  the 
excess,  and  extravagance,  and  dissipation  of  the  present 
generation  are  likely  to  entail  feebleness  and  luxury  on  that 
which  is  to  come ;  nor  is  this  true  only  of  those  who  have 
had  vicious  parents.  The  ranks  of  such  are  every  day  in- 
creasing from  the  thresholds  of  piety.  Are  there  not  now 
among  the  profane  many  that  were  brought  up  in  the  homes 
of  industry  and  prayer  ?  We  do  not  read  aright  if  violence 


THE    LIFE    OF    THE    HEKO    BEGUN.  105 

and  forgery,  intemperance  and  lewdness,  profane  and  obscene 
language,  robberies,  murders,  divorces,  and  suicides,  have 
not  become  so  common  as  hardly  to  awaken  our  surprise. 
The  society  of  our  day  is  diseased — it  is  corrupt — it  is  rot- 
ten— it  is  "  a  shame  and  a  lie."  A  fearful  malady  is  at 
work,  and  sad  consequences'are  to  be  apprehended.  Think- 
ing men,  earnest  minded,  large  hearted  men  are  sad,  and 
some  are  even  despairing.  How  is  it  that  so  much  parental 
love  and  care,  anxiety  and  toil,  produce  no  more  fruits  ? 
In  the  next  generation,  who  are  to  be  our  successful  mer- 
chants, our  legislators,  statesmen,  and  learned  and  great 
men  ?  If  the  morning  of  life  is  neglected,  if  the  young 
are  physically  debilitated,  and  morally  depraved,  and  their 
minds  dark  and  ignorant,  how  can  we  avoid  a  rapid  move- 
ment on  the  downward  road  ? 

To  have  any  fears  on  such  a  subject  is  painful  to  a  well 
disposed  mind.  It  fills  us  with  horror  to  think  of  the 
calamities  that  are,  sooner  or  later,  measured  out  to  corrupt 
communities  by  a  retributive  Providence.  As  parents  and 
patriots,  and  much  more  as  Christians,  we  should  consider 
the  dangerous  tendencies  of  excessive  devotion  to  money- 
-making  and  sensual  delights.  If  parents  are  devoted  to  an 
increase  of  stocks  and  dividends,  so  as  to  neglect  the  mind 
and  social  affections — if  their  ambition  is  to  occupy  a 
palatial  residence,  keep  a  superb  equipage,  and  deck  their 
daughters  in  the  stiffest  crinolines,  richest  furs,  and  most 
costly  silks,  and  have  their  sons  drive  the  fastest  horses, 
and  drink  the  most  costly  wines — then  what  will  their 
grandchildren  be,  if  they  have  any  ?  Will  not  the  spirit 
of  the  fathers  become  stronger,  and  more  sordid,  and  more 
injurious  as  it  descends  to  the  children  ?  What,  then,  can 
be  done? 

1.  A  more  healthy,  vigorous  kind  of  literature  can  be 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  young.  In  popularizing  science, 


106  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

our  school  systems  are  almost  emasculated.  Our  children 
are  fed  on  pap,  when  they  should  have  honest  hard 'bread 
and  sound  meat.  In  making  a  royal  road  to  scholarship 
easy,  we  have  denied  them  the  gymnastics  of  the  mind,  and 
too  many  of  them  have  stumbled  over  the  ass's  bridge,  or 
are  standing  still  upon '  it.  The  Peter  Parley  literature  of 
our  schools  should  be  exiled  to  the  islands  of  the  southern 
Pacific. 

2.  Our  children  should  be  taught,  everywhere  and  always, 
that  knowledge,  mental  power,  discipline  of  thought,  and 
not  a  mere  parrot  recital  at  an   examination,  is  the  thing  to 
be  gained  by  going  to  school.     Dr.  Johnson  said  that  it  was 
a  great  thing  gained  when  a  child  knew  there  was  such  a 
place  as  Kamschatka.     All  knowledge  tends  to  profit. 

3.  Family  government   and  training  must  be  resumed. 
One  of  the  sources  of  the  evils  of  the  times  is  in  the  relaxed 
state  of  family  government.     As  the  common  schools  and 
Sabbath-schools  have  prevailed,  and  have  been  made  to  take 
the  place  of  family  teachings,  so  the  influence  of  parents 
has  diminished.     Now  if  the  common  schools  and  Sabbath- 
Bchools  are  made  substitutes  for  family  government,  then  it 
were  a  misfortune  that  they  have  ever  been  established.     It 
is  not  their  vocation  to  take  the  child  altogether  from  paren- 
tal training.     Their  true  place  is  auxiliary  to  the  parent. 
They  are  to  help  the  parent,  but  not  to  supersede  him,  or 
in  the  smallest  degree  weaken  his  influence. 

4.  In  the  family  training  of  children  there  must  be  a 
more  earnest,  simple  inculcation  of  moral  precepts.     In  be- 
coming enlightened  and  liberal,  we  must  distinguish  between 
a  proper  regard  for  religious  truth  and  absolute  indifference. 
The  religious  principles  of   the   families  of  a  nation  give 
character  to  its  morals  and  mental  activities.     All  the  bless- 
ings of  civilized  life  may  be  traced  to  our  private  dwellings 
— ^to  our  homes  and  to  our  mothers.     The  corner  stones  of 


THE    LIJPE    OF    THE    HEKU    BEGUN.  107 

our  churches  and  of  the  state  are  our  hearthstones,  guarded 
by  lawfully  wedded  forms  of  conjugal  love.  "Let  our  tem- 
ples/' says  one,  "crumble,  and  our  academies  decay;  let 
every  public  edifice,  our  halls  of  justice,  and  our  capitals 
of  state,  be  levelled  with  the  dust,  but  spare  our  homes. 
Let  no  socialist  invade  them  with  his  wild  plans  of  com- 
munity. Man  did  not  invent,  and  he  cannot  improve  or 
abrogate  them.  A  private  shelter  to  cover  in  two  hearts 
dearer  to  each  other  than  all  in  the  world;  high  walls,  to 
exclude  the  profane  eyes  of  human  beings;  seclusion 
enough  for  children  to  feel  that  mother  is  a  holy  and  a 
peculiar  name — this  is  home ;  and  here  is  the  birth  place 
of  every  virtuous  impulse,  and  every  sacred  thought.  Here 
the  church  and  the  state  must  come  for  their  origin  and 
their  support.  Oh,  spare  our  homes  !" 

Yes,  our  homes  must  be  cherished  as  the  most  sacred 
spots  we  have  on  earth.  Here  we  may  teach  our  children 
how  to  regain  ten  thousand  little  Eden^,  by  inspiring  them 
with  a  love  for  the  beauties  of  nature  and  of  art,  and  with 
love  to  mankind  and  their  blessed  Creator.  I  should  have 
been  an  atheist,  said  John  Randolph,  but  for  the  recollec- 
tion that  my  mother  used  to  take  my  little  hands  in  hers, 
and  cause  me  to  say,  on  her  knees,  "  Our  Father  which  art 
in  heaven."  But  to  make  home  the  fountain  of  such  in- 
fluences, it  must  be  truly  the  seat  of  the  affections.  Some 
parents  seem  to  move  among  their  tender  olive  plants  with 
so  much  haughty  dignity,  and  cold  precision,  that  they  re- 
mind me  of  the  lofty  and  craggy  peaks  of  the  icebergs  that 
are  sometimes  found  floating  among  J,he  island  gardens  of 
the  tropics.  Their  presence  is  always  known  by  the  chilli- 
ness of  the  air.  I  am  persuaded  it  were  better  to  put  orit 
our  children's  eyes  than  to  crush  their  affections  in  the 
nursery.  It  were  better  that  a  whole  family  were  carried 
off  by  the  plague,  than  that  it  should  live  without  a  heart. 


108  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

Rather  let  the  young  heart  burst  out  in  glee,  and  song,  and 
sympathy.  Teach  the  little  one  to  hate  only  "  sin,  dirt,  and  the 
devil/'  and  to  love  everything  beautiful  and  good.  Let  the 
warm  emotions  of  the  little  heir  to  immortality  gush  out  for 
the  cow  that  gives  him  milk,  and  for  the  dog  that  guards  his 
father's  door,  and  allows  -his  tiny  fingers  to  pinch  his  ears. 
Teach  your  children  to  hate  vice,  and  to  love  the  robin  and 
the  rose,  their  country  and  their  God,  and  then  you  may 
commit  the  government  to  their  shoulders.  And  let  the 
young  prize  the  principles  of  their  pious  parents,  and  heed 
their  solemn  warnings  against  the  fascinations  of  vice. 

"  — Prize  them,  brother,  'twill  not  last  for  ever, 
And  once  escaped,  it  will  return — no  !  never  ! 
It  is  the  morning  :  work  while  lasts  its  light ; 
Ye  cannot  toil  so  cheerily  at  night. 
It  is  the  time  of  sowing ;  let  the  seed 
Produce  the  harvest  that  your  soul  will  need. 
And  'tis  the  planting  time ;  be  sure  the  root 
Be  such  as  bears  the  most  delicious  fruit." 


LION-FIGHT.       109 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  THE  LION-FIGHT. 

"Yet  truth  to  say,  I  oft  have  heard  men  wonder 
Why  thou  shouldst  wed  Philistian  women  rather 
Than  of  thine  own  tribe,  fairer,  or  as  fair, 
At  least  of  thy  own  nation,  and  as  noble." 

Samson  Agonistes. 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  had  a  glance  at  the  early  piety  of 
the  great  Israelite.  The  spirit  of  God  was  upon  him  in  the 
camp  of  his  countrymen,  near  his  native  city.  His  religion, 
however,  does  not  seem  to  have  flourished  long.  His  journeys 
toTininath,  though  marked  with  deeds  of  miraculous  strength, 
are  the  beginnings  of  his  trouble. 

The  fourteenth  chapter  tells  us  how  he  went  down  to 
Timnath,  and  fell  in  love  with  a  Philistine  damsel.  Tim- 
nath  was  near  the  sea  side,  hence  the  expression  went  down. 
Though  this  city  belonged  to  his  own  tribe,  it  was  at  this 
time  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  It  had  once  belonged 
to  Judah,  but  had  been  transferred  to  Dan.  It  was  some 
fifteen  miles  north-east  of  Eshtaol,  and  twenty  west  from 
Jerusalem.  Its  possession  now  by  the  Philistines  was  a  re- 
proach to  the  Israelites.  Either  they  had  not  driven  them 
out  originally,  as  they  should  have  done  in  the  time  of 
the  conquest  under  Joshua  and  Caleb,  or  the  Philistines 
had  returned  and  re-occupied  it.  However  this  may  have 
been,  there  was  at  this  time  free  intercourse  between  the 
Philistines  and  the  Hebrews.  The  population  was  probably 
10 


110  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

*  mixed,  but  the  Hebrews  were  under  tribute  to  the  Philis- 
tines. 

In  considering  Samson's  choice  of  a  wife,  we  are  conscious 
>   of  a  Feeling  of  painful  disappointment.     We  had  a  right  to 
^  expect  Manoah's  son  would  have  made  a  better  selection. 
:/Hji  choosing  a  Philistine,  we  begin  to  see  his  lower  nature 
j>  acting  the  tyrant.     But  it  were  well  if  domestic  history  in 
^  modern    times  did    not  present  many  instances  of  similar 
I*,  stubborness.     In  such  matters,  the  fancy  of  young  people  is 
J>  often  the  supreme  law.     Louis  XIY.  was  not  more  headstrong 
-^and  dogmatic  when  he  said,  that  his  heavy  guns  were  the 
*  last  reason  of  kings,  than  is  the  mere  fancy  of  the  eye  in 
£  youth.     Samson's  falling  in  love,  was  in  the  ordinary  way : 
C  "And  he  saw  a  woman  of  Timnath,"  and  she  pleased  him 
well.     Hebrew,  She  was  just  right  in  his  eyes.     Some  in- 
•r  terpreters  think  the  original  implies  something  more  than 
"she  was  agreeable  to  his  fancy.     Possibly  it  may  mean,  that 
he  was  moved  by  the  Lord  to  this  alliance,  seeing  that  it 
~    would  furnish  a  proper  occasion  for  him  to  begin  his  deliver- 
ances.    The  Hebrew  yashar  may  mean  not  only  that  she 
J  was  beautiful,  fascinating  in  his  eyes,  but  also  that  she  was 
^  fit,  right,  appropriate  in  regard  to  the  great  work  which  he 
had  to  accomplish.     If  this  sense   be  adopted  here,  then 
Samson  was  prophet  enough  to  understand  the  popular  doc- 
tripe  of  availability.     He  had    regard   to  an   ulterior   and 
higher   purpose  than   gratifying  his  taste.     This  does  not 
necessarily  imply,  however,  that  he  did  not  love  this  woman. 
Prudence  and  affection  may  co-exist.     Nor  do  I  see  anything 
wrong  in  his  making  his  love  for  this  woman  subservient  to 
the  great  patriotic  mission  for  which  Providence  had  raised 
him  up.     But  surely  it  was  a  strange  beginning.     The  pro- 
mised deliverer  of  Israel  takes  a  wife  from  their  hereditary 
enemies.     But  was  not  this  a  fair  prologue  to  the  rest  of  his 
life  ?     He  was  a  man  of  paradoxes. 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  THE-  LION-FIGHT.     Ill 

We  do  not  wonder  that  his  pious  parents  were  astonished 
at  his  wish  to  take  a  Philistine  woman  to  wife.  They  were 
national  enemies.  And  the  angel  had  said  he  should  deliver 
Israel.  They  would  therefore  naturally  inquire,  How  is  this  ? 
Is  our  deliverance  to  begin  with  an  alliance?  We  are  not 
to  touch  anything  unclean;  our  child  is  a  Nazarite;  and  yet 
he  wishes  to  marry  a  heathen !  This  is  the  beginning  of  the 
riddle.  "  If  there  never  a  woman  among  thy  brethren  ?" 
is  the  natural  inquiry  of  such  a  father  and  mother.  As  he 
was  so  especially  consecrated  to  God,  it  must  have  seemed 
peculiarly  improper  for  him  to  make  such  an  alliance.  But 
Samson  was  not  in  a  reasoning  mood.  His  love  for  the 
Philistine  maid  was  as  ardent  as  his  strength  was  great. 
The  brave  love  heroically.  As  a  good  son,  he  consults  his 
parents,  and  asks  their  approbation  ;  but,  then  as  is  too  often 
the  case,  he  pressed  his  own  desires  too  obstinately.  When 
his  parents  remonstrated  against  such  an  alliance,  he  replied 
to  his  father,  saying,  "  Get  her  for  me,  for  she  pleaseth  me 
well."  Still,  let  us  not  forget  that  he  did  consult  his  parents. 
This  showed  his  regard  for  them  and  for  the  law  of  God. 
Before  he  paid  his  addresses  to  the  young  woman,  or  said 
anything  to  her  parents,  he  laid  the  affair  before  his  own 
parents.  As  yet  his  marrying  was  not  a  foregone  conclusion. 
Thus  far  he  is  a  noble  example  for  all  young  persons. 
Doubtless  there  would  be  many  more  happy  marriages,  if 
pious  parents  were  more  reverentially  consulted,  and  if  such 
unions  were  more  generally  formed  with  due  regard  to  the 
divine  will.  Obedience  to  God  in  marrying,  as  well  as  in 
other  things,  is  the  way  of  happiness. 

In  seeking  a  Philistine  wife,  even  in  the  most  favourable 
view  we  can  take  of  the  affair,  Samson  was  treading  on  doubt- 
ful and  dangerous  ground.  *Their  law  expressly  forbade  the 
Israelites  to  marry  among  those  nations  that  were  cursed 
and  devoted  to  destruction.  It  does  not  appear,  however, 


112  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

that  the  Philistines  were  numbered  among  the  doomed 
Canaanites.  They  were  of  Egyptian  origin.  The  spirit  of 
the  Hebrew  law,  however,  was  plainly  against  such  alliances, 
for  the  Philistines  were  idolaters  and  foreigners.  It  is  true 
the  law  that  forbade  an  Israelite  to  marry  a  heathen,  was*  a 
ceremonial  law,  or  a  police  law — one  that  related  to  their 
national  policy.  It  was  not  one  of  the  laws  of  the  decalogue. 
It  was  not  a  moral  law.  It  might  therefore  be  changed,  or 
suspended. 

In  what  sense  was  it  "of  the  Lord"  that  he  sought  the  Tim- 
nite  damsel  for  a  wife  as  an-occasion  against  the  Philistines? 
It  is  seldom  the  sacred  writers  give  reasons  for  what  they 
record,  but"  the  fourth  verse  seems  to  be  parenthetical,  and 
designed  to  explain  why  Samson's  parents  declined  con- 
senting to  this  marriage.  It  is  clearly  implied  that  if  they 
had  known  that  this  was  God's  will,  they  would  at  once 
have  acquiesced.  They  did  agtee  to  go  with  him  to  Timnath, 
as  we  find  from  the  following  verse,  to  see  more  about  the 
matter,  and  finally  gave  their  consent.  Some  think  they 
went  with  Samson  because  he  told  them  plainly  his  motives, 
or  that  in  some  way,  they  understood  the  thing  was  of  the 
Lord.  But  if  the  divine  prohibition  against  such  an  al- 
liance was  repealed  for  the  time,  making  for  special  reasons 
his  case  an  exception,  how  is  it  that  the  historian  does  not 
inform  us  of  this  fact?  Why  does  not  Samson  tell  his  pa- 
rents that  the  law  is  repealed  in  this  case?  There  is  not 
even  a  hint  of  any  such  thing.  The  statement  that  this  al- 
liance was  of  the  Lord  does  not  excuse  Sarason  from  all,  re- 
sponsibility. The  match  was  of  his  own  seeking.  He  acted 
as  a  free  agent  in  going 'down  to  Timnath.  He  was  not 
carried  there  by  angels,  nor  did  God  miraculously  excite  his 
love  towards  the  Philistine  dame.  But  God,  seeing  Samson's 
choice,  determined  to  bring  good  out  of  it — he  determined 
that  his  attachment  to  a  Philistine  woman  should  be  over- 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  THE  LION-FIGHT.     113 

ruled,  so  as  to  be  the  occasion  of  his  beginning  to  deliver 
Israel. 

That  it  was  of  the  Lord,  that  he  sought  an  occasion 
against  the  Philistines,  does  not  make  God  the  author  of  it. 
Samson  was  permitted  to  exercise  his  own  free  will,  and  to 
follow  his  fancy  in  choosing  a  wife,  and'God,  in  the  exercise 
of  free  agency  and  sovereignty,  made  his  choice  subservient 
to  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise^  made  to  his  mother,  that 
he  should  begin  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  hands  of  the 
Philistines.  The  Philistines  were  a  people  already  tried 
and  under  sentence  of  judgment  in  the  court  of  heaven. 
A</{(inst  is  here  used  in  the  sense  of  from,  concerning  them. 
The  fault  of  a  conflict  was  to  come  from  them,  and  then 
they  were  to  be  punished  for  the  wrongs  they  had  done  to 
Israel.  He,  Samson,  and  not  the  Lord,  is  the  proper  sub- 
ject of  the  verb.  And  even  if  we  are  not  able  to  explain 
why  the  Lord  adopted  this'  peculiar  way  of  bringing  down 
his  judgments  on  the  Philistines,  the  sacred  narrative  is 
none  the  less  perfect.  It  is*a  simple  record  of  events,  or 
of  God's  dealings  with  his  people,  and  not  an  explanation 
of  motives  or  a  detail  of  reasons  for  the  divine  proceedings. 
Some  suggest  that  this  method  was  adopted  to  concentrate 
on  the  person  of  Samson  himself  the  whole  wrath  and  force 
of  the  Philistines,  because  it  was  God's  plan  to  make  him 
the  deliverer  of  the  Hebrews  by  his  own  personal  exploits, 
rather  than  by  leading  their  hosts,  as  the  other  judges  had 
done.  He  was  not  the  chief  of  their  armies,  but  himself 
tl;e  army,  more  fully  than  ever  the  grand  monarch  was  the 
state.  It  was  a  part  of  this  plan  therefore  to  bring  about 
a  private  quarrel  between  Samson  and  their  enemies,  and 
this  was  done  naturally  enough,  and  as  many  other  quarrels 
have  been,  about  a  woman.  Helen  is  not  alone  in  her  glory. 
Other  cities  than  Troy  have  been  exceedingly  troubled  on 
accownt  of  their  fair  ones.  Whether  Samson  prophetically 
10* 


114  THE    (J1ANT   JUDGE. 

foresaw  what  was  to  happen  is  not  stated.  Most  probably 
he  did  not  know  beforehand  in  what  way  the  result  was  to 
be  effected.  But  having  full  confidence  in  the  providence 
of  God,  and  knowing  that  it  was  his  will  to  execute  judg- 
.  ments  upon  the  enemies  of  his  countrymen,  and  that  he 
was  raised  up  to  be  the  agent  of  inflicting  them,  he  was  no 
doubt  under  a  strong  impression  that  such  results  would 
come  of  hie  enterprise,  but  without  any  definite  idea,  of  the 
details.  God  knows  the  end  from  tjie  beginning.  The 
divine  mind  saw,  therefore,  clearly  how  the  baseness  and 
perfidy  of  Samson's  wife  and  professed  friends  would  prove 
an  occasion  of  bitter  hatred  and  revenge — and  how  the 
Philistines  would  thereby  lay  themselves  liable  to  punish- 
ment— and  that  there  was  no  injustice  in  their  punishment. 
But  the  omniscience  of  the  supreme  Being  was  not  a  mov- 
ing cause  to  the  actors.  They  acted  of  their  own  free.will 
as  in  the  case  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion.  And  is  there  any 
reason  why  the  Almighty  ma^not  use  his  omniscience  in 
governing  the  world,  and  in  making  the  wicked  work  out 
their  own  punishment  ?  Some  restrict  the  moving  or  ex- 
citing from  the  Lord  to  his  seeking  a  righteous  cause  of 
quarrel,  and  deny  that  Samson's  marriage  with  the  Tinmite 
was  in  any  sense  instigated  by  the  Lord.  It  was  of  the 
Lord  that  Samson  should  begin  his  work  of  delivering  the 
Israelites  from  the  tyranny  of  their  oppressors,  and  that  he 
should  have  a  just  ground  for  inflicting  judgments  upon 
them ;  but  it  was  not  of  the  Lord  that  he  should  violate  the 
law  in  marrying  a  heathen.  In  this  view  of  his  case,*^ve 
find  him  moved  by  the  Lord  to  find  a  quarrel  with  the 
Philistines,  and  constitutionally  framed  to  be  a  great  war- 
rior and  an  avenger  of  Hebrew  wrongs,  and  at  the  same 
time,  we  see  him  moved  by  his  own  constitutional  and  most 
characteristic  propensity  to  find  the  cause  or  oc6asion  of' a 
quarrel  with  the  Philistines  by  falling  in  love  with  one  of 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  THE  LION-FIGHT.     115 

their  maidens  and  seeking  her  in  marriage.  But  great  care 
is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  what  the  Lord  moved 
him  to  do,  and  what  his  own  propensity  moved  him  to  do. 
Think  you,  that  he  prayed  to  God  to  direct  him  as  to  the 
precise  method  of  his  procedure  against  the  Philistines,  or 
being  persuaded  that  it  was  the  divine  will  for  him  to  seek 
a  quarrel  with  them,  did  he  trust  to  his  own  judgment  as 
to  the  means;  and  in  the  meantime  concludes  that  he  will 
find  the  occasion  of  the  quarrel  in  gratifying  his  passion  for 
a  Philistine  maid  ?  It  is  certainly  true  that  men  sometimes 
so  deceive  themselves,  that  they  pray  for  guidance  from  the 
Lord,  while  at  the  same  time,  their  course  .is  fixed  in 
their  own  hearts.  What  they  will  do  is  a  foregone  conclusion. 
They  pray  for  the  divine  will  to  be  done,  and  do  their  own 
will.  .  They  pray  for  light  to  follow  Providence,  and  rise 
from  their  knees  and  go  straightway  out  to  lead  Providence. 
They  bow  their  knees  before  God,  but  not  their  souls.  And 
regarding  iniquity  in  their*fcearts,  their  prayers  are  not 
heard.  Whatever  it  does  or  does  not  mean,  the  fourth  verse 
cannot  teach  that  God  prompted  Samson  to  transgress. 
God  cannot  tempt  any  man  to  evil. 

"  For  at  that  time  the  Philistines  had  dominion  over 
Israel."  What  is  the  force  here  of  the  illative  for?  In 
some  sense  it  certainly  expresses  the  idea  that  Samson  was 
moved  to  find  a  pretext  for  avenging  his  people  on  their 
enemies.  Schmid,  and  some  others,  understand  it  thus  : 
the  Philistines,  by  the  art  of  war,  were  the  conquerors; 
they  had  dominion  over  the  Israelites,  and  it  was  not  right 
for  them  to  rebel  against  existing  power,  unless  some  fresh 
overt  act  of  oppression  was  committed.  The  idea,  then,  is, 
that  though  suffering  under  a  tyranny,  yet  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  have  a  just  cause  for  endeavouring  to  shake  off 
the  yoke  ;  and  that  it  would  have  been  unlawful  for  them 
to  rise  against  their  conquerors  without  such  a  cause.  Our 


116  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

fathers  of  the  Revolution  of  1776,  sought  diligently  to 
justify  their  Declaration  of  Independence  and  separation 
from  the  mother  country,  by  stating  to  the  whole  world 
their  reasons.  They  recited  the  acts  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment that  were, unlawful,  unjust,  and  oppressive.  They 
had  sought  repeatedly,  and  in  various  ways,  for  redress,  but 
in  vain.  They  were  spurned  from  the  throne,  and  their 
only  hope  was  in  revolution.  Thei  same  is  true  of  the 
revolution  of  1688.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
Bible  is  very  strong  against  insubordination  and  rebellion. 
But  I  have  yet  to  see  the  proof  that  it  enjoins,  absolutely 
and  unconditionally,  the  duty,  of  passive  obedience.  The 
danger  of  our  times,  however,  is  all  in  the  contrary  direc- 
tion. In  Samson's  case  there  is  at  least  the  appearance  of 
singular  prudence  and  moderation  j  li  that  although  he  had 
ample  grounds  in  the  divine  commission  implied  in  the  very 
fact  of  his  being  -raised  up  and  set  apart  as  a  national  de- 
liverer, yet,  to  avoid  offenqfc  he  will  not  undertake  the 
work,  till  a  just  and  legitimate  cause  of  war  occurs/' 

His  parents  at  first  objected  to  the  match,  but  afterwards 
weut  down  with  him  to  Tinmath,  either  hoping  that  some- 
thing would  occur  on  the  way,  dr  when  they  should  arrive, 
•by  which  they  could  divert  him  from  his  purpose;  or  they 
wefat  in  his  behalf  to  arrange  for  the  wedding.  Substan- 
tially this  is  the  manner  of  conducting  such  affairs  still  in 
the  East.  Sometimes  the  proposal  is  made,  however,  in  a 
different  style.  A  young  fellow  says'  to  a  father,  Such 
another  father  will  give  so  much  with  his  daughter  •  how 
much  will  you  give  if  I  marry  yours?  Ordinarily  all  such 
negotiations  are  carried  on  by  the  parents  of  the  young  peo- 
ple. The  leading  idea  is  of  bargain  and  sale.  The  dower 
or  the  purchase  money  has  more  influence  than  the  affection 
of  the^parties,  or  their  fitness  to  make  each  other  happy. 

As  his  father  and  mother  were  on    their  way  down   to 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  THE  LTON-FIGITT.     117 

Timnath,  Samson  goes  aside  into  the  vineyards  belonging 
to  the  town,  probably,  says  Henry,  to  gather  grapes;  but 
another,  more  poetically  inclined,  says,  Samson  wished  "  to 
gain  the  pleasure  of  a  lonely  thought."  But  he  had  neither 
the  pleasure  of  a  lonely  thought,  nor  of  eating  grapes,  for 
"  a  young  lion  came  and  roared  against  him." 

I  believe  this  is  the  first,  but  certainly  not  the  last  time, 
allusion  is  made  in  the  Bible  to  lions.  In  the  subsequent 
books  of  the  Bible  they  are  frequently  mentioned  as  being 
found  in  Palestine  and  adjacent  countries.  In  the  life  of 
David,  and  in  the  history  of  the  exploits  of  his  mighty 
men,  they  are  several  times  mentioned.  On  a  snowy  day 
one  of  his  worthies  killed  two  lions  in  a  pit.  The  dis- 
obedient prophet  was  killed  by  a  lion  •  and  the  overflowings 
of  the  Jordan  drove  lions  from  their  hiding  places  in  the 
thickets  on  its  banks.  Historically  the  proof  is  strong  that 
lions  were  numerous  in  ancient  times  in  Asia  Minor.  They 
live  to  be  old,  and  multiply  ^apidly.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  but  few,  if  any,  are  to  be  found  there  at  the  present 
time.  The  monks  of  Mount  Sinai  told  me  in  1851,  that 
lions  still  prowled  through  the  sandy  plains,  and  over  the 
mountains  of  the  peninsula.  But  even  if  not  a  single  lion 
could  now  be  found  in  western  Asia,  the  text  may  be  true ; 
for  numerous  instances  can  be  cited  of  the  disappearing  of 
beasts  and  plants  from  countries  where  they  were  once  numer- 
ous. The  hippopotamus  was  once  on  the  lower  Nile,  but  is  not 
there  now.  The  lotus  is  believed  to  have  been  a  native  of 
India,  but  flourished  a  long  time  on  the  Nile,  and  then  dis- 
appeared. The  slabs,  cylinders,  walls,  columns,  and  tombs  of 
the  ruins  of  Chaldea,  Assyria,  and  Egypt  prove  that  lions  were 
well  known  in  ancient  times.  Hunting  lions  and  killing 
lions  is  often  represented.  They  are  found  still  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  and  in  the  Syrian 
deserts. 


118 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 


There  are  at  least  seven  Hebrew  terms  signifying  a  lion, 
expressive  of  the  different  ages  of  that  animal.  Kephir  in 
the  text,  however,  signifies  a  young  lion  in  full  strength,  and 
therefore  a  dangerous  adversary.  Samson  seems  not  to  have 
been  aware  of  his  presence,  till  the  very  moment  when  with 
open  mouth  he  came  fiercely  at  him  ready  to  devour  him. 
As  the  lion  never  roars  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy,  except 
when  x'eady  to  spring  upon  him,  it  is  obvious  his  danger 
was  imminent.  The  lion  roared  against  him,  that  is,  was 
about  to  seize  him  and  tear  him  to  pieces.  Samson  was 
now  twenty-two  years  old,  but  it  was  not  in  his  own  strength 
that  he^prevailed^jove^-  the-4i^«-:  "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord 
came  mightily  upon  him,  and  he  rent  him  as  he  would  have 
rent  a  kid." 


That  is,  supernatural  influence  excited  his  body  and  his 
mind  to  an  extraordinary  degree  of  energy.  As  the  dan- 
ger was  immediate  and  extreme,  so  the  divine  help  was  in- 
stantaneous. This  adventure  was  singularly  prophetic.  It 
was  well  calculated  to  inspire  him  with  courage,  and  to  awaken 
faith  in  himself  and  in  God.  As  the  king  of  beasts  was  as 


SAMSON'S  FIRST  LOVE  AND  Tfi:e  LION-FIGHT.     119 

Weak  as  a  kid  in  the  sinewy  arms  of  the  weaponless  hero, 
and  his  body  soon  lay  breathless  on  the  ground,  so  could  he 
with  divine  assistance  overcome  the  oppressors  of  his  peo- 
ple. It  is  remarkable  that  both  Samson  and  David  had  a 
lion  encounter,  as  a  kind  of  preparation  for  their  conflict 
with  the  Philistines. 

"But  he  told  not  his  father  or  his  mother  what  he  had 
done."  He  deemed  it  best  to  keep  to  himself  for  the  pre- 
sent this  evidence  of  God's  favour.  Perhaps  he  thought  if 
he  told  his  parents,  the  Philistines  might  hear  of  his  great 
strength,  and  be  more  on  their  guard  against  him.  He 
judged  it  best  not  to  arouse  their  jealousy  at  present.  His 
modesty  and  self-control  are  commendable.  In  rejoining 
his  parents  with  as  much  humility  and  composure  as  if  he 
had  not  performed  a  great  feat,  we  see  the  true  hero. 
He  was  as  modest  as  he  was  brave.  Great  talkers,  noisy 
boasters,  are  seldom,  good  for  anything  else.  Such  was 
Goliah  of  Gath,  but  the  victory  was  with  the  modest  son  of 
Jesse. 

Hall  suggests  that  if  Samson's  parents  had  been  behind 
the  hedge  witnessing  the  fight  with  the  lion,  they  would  not 
have  troubled  themselves  any  more  about  his  marriage. 
They  would  have  concluded  his  life  was  lost,  for  what  could 
an  unarmed  man  do  with  a  lion  in  his  fury?  And  sure 
enough,  if  the  tawny  adversary  had  found  nothing  but  a 
man's  strength  in  his  antagonist,  it  had  been  an  easy  victory. 
"  But  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon  Samson."  And  now 
"if  his  bones  had  been  brass  and  his  skin  plates  of  iron,"  it 
would  have  been  the  same  thing.  He  would  have  rent  him 
as  if  he  had  been  a  kid.  The  Creator  who  made  the  lions 
stand  in  awe  of  Adam,  Noah,  and  Daniel,  could  easily  subdue 
this  one  before  the  giant  Hebrew.  Let  us  remember  that 
the  most  dangerous  lion  in  the  way  of  duty  is  not  the  one 
that  springs  upon  us  from  the  wajside,  but  the  one  that  lives 


120  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

within  us.     The  strongest  lion  we  have  to  fight,  is  the  old 
Adam  within. 

"  Deny  thyself,  and  take  thy  cross, 

Is  the  Redeemer's  great  command : 
Nature  must  count  her  gold  but  dross, 
If  she  would  gain  this  heavenly  land. 

The  fearful  soul  that  tires  and  faints, 
And  walks  the  ways  of  God  no  moro, 

Is  but  esteemed  almost  a  saint, 
And  makes  his  own  destruction  sure." 


SWEETNESS   OUT    OF   THE   STRONG.  121 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SWEETNESS   OUT   OF   THE    STRONG 
"But  one  sad  losel  soils  a  name  for  aye." — Childe  Harold. 

THE  fourteenth  chapter  of  Judges  opens  with  an  engage- 
ment of  marriage.  We  are  now  going  to  the  wedding,  but 
on  our  way  we  have  meat  out  of  the  eater  and  sweetness  out 
of  the  strong.  We  are  now  at  the  beginning  of  the  end. 
"After  a  time,"  Samson  returns  to  take  the  woman  of  Tim- 
nath  to  wife.  The  Hebrew  here  signifies  "after  some  days/' 
probably  after  a  year.  For  it  was  the  custom  of  those  days 
in  the  East,  as  it  is  still,  for  ten  or  twelve  months  to  elapse 
between  the  betrothment  and  the  marriage.  During  this 
time  the  espoused  wife  remained  with  her  parents  preparing 
her  dresses  and  ornaments  for  the  wedding.  Thus  Samson 
went  down  with  his  parents,  and  the  engagement  was  made, 
and  now  he  returns  to  be  married.  And  on  his  way,  as  he 
passes  the  vineyards  where  he  had  killed  the  lion,  he  turns 
aside  to  see  the  carcass,  and  behold  it  was  full  of  bees  and 
honey.  He  kept  thinking  of  past  providences,  although  he 
was  on  his  way  to  his  wedding.  The  motives  that  prompted 
him  to  turn  aside  to  see  the  lion's  carcass  are  not  stated. 
But  in  pondering  his  ways  as  he  was  going  to  Timnath,  it 
was  natural  that  the  sight  of  the  vineyards,  where  God  had 
delivered  him  out  of  the  power  of  the  lion,  should  have  ex- 
cited his  gratitude.  It  was  well  that  a  sense  of  God's  good- 
11 


122  THE    GlAxST   JUDGE. 

ness  revived  within  him.  The  dangers  we  have  escaped 
should  not  ^p  forgotten.  When  we  are  bereave'd,  we  should 
be  careful  not  to  lose  the  benefits  designed  by  forgetting  the 
hand  that  afflicts;  and  when  God  preserves  our  friends  or 
raises  us  up  from  threatened  death,  surely  thankfulness 
should  fill  our  hearts.  All  God's  mercies — all  his  provi- 
dences to  us  should  be  monuments  of  our  gratitude. 

1.  Some  raise  a  difficulty  here  by  saying  that  the  honey 
of  the  ancients  was  the  expressed  juice  of  dates.     This  may 
be  true  of  some  of  their  honey,  but  surely  it  is  not  denied 
that  honey  bees  are  as  old  as  Moses.     "And  he  took  thereof 
in  his  hands,"  implies  according  to  the  original,  that  he 
wrested  the  honey  from  the  bees — that  he  had  to  fight  with 
them  to  get  it.     And  he  gave  of  the  honey-comb  to  his  pa- 
rents; but  said  nothing  to  them  as  to  where  and  how  he  had 
obtained  it. 

2.  Some  confusion  is  found  in  ancient  authors  about  the 
liking  or  disliking  of  bees  for  dead  bodies.     A  general  opinion 
once    prevailed  among  the  heathen  that  honey  bees  were 
generated  in  carcasses.     Virgil  is  quoted  for  such  an  opinion. 
11  But  here,"  says  he,  (l  they  behold  a  sudden  prodigy,  and 
wondrous  to  relate,  bees,  through  all  the  belly,  hum  amid  the 
putrid  bowels  of  the  cattle,  pour  forth  with  the  fermenting 
juices  from  the  burst  sides,  and  in  immense  clouds  roll  along; 
then  swarm' together  on  the  top  of  a  tree,  and  hang  down  in 
a  cluster  from  the  bending  boughs."     Varro  is  quoted  for  a 
directly  contrary  opinion.   ^He  says,  "The  bee  never  sits 
down  in  an  unclean  place,  or  upon  anything  that  emits  an 
unpleasant  smell.     They  are  never  seen  like  flies,  feeding 
on  blood  or  flesh;  while  wasps  and  hornets  all  delight  in 
such  food,  the  bee  never  touches  a  dead  body.     So  much  do 
they  dislike  an  impure  smell,  that  when  one  of  them  dies, 
the  survivors  immediately  carry  out  the  carcass  from  the 
hive,  that  they  may  not  be  annoyed  by  the  effluvia."     And 


SWEETNESS   OUT   OF   THE    STRONG.  123 

Aristotle  says:  aThe  bee  will  not  alight  upon  a  dead  carcass, 
nor  taste  the  flesh." 

It  is  not  our  business  to  harmonize  Aristotle,  Varro, 
and  Virgil,  nor  to  settle  the  dispute  among  their  learned 
scholiasts.  It  may  be  that  these  contradictory  opinions 
have  arisen  from  vague  traditions  concerning  Samson's  bees. 
It  is  a  well  known  historic  fact  that  directly  contradictory 
traditions  sometimes  flow  from  one  and  the  same  fountain. 

But  an  examination  of  the  text  does  not  decide  in  favour 
of  either  of  these  theories.  It  does  not  say  the  bees  were 
generated  or  developed  in  the  lion's  carcass.  There  was  "a 
swarm  of  bees  and  honey  in  the  carcass  of  the  lion/'  but  it 
is  not  said  the  bees  were  hatched  there.  Nor  is  it  said 
that  the  lion  had  just  been  killed,  or  that  the  flesh  was 
putrid.  The  contrary  is  made  to  appear  from  the  state- 
ment, that  it  was  "  after  a  time,  he  returned."  It  must 
have  been,  as  we  have  shown,  about  a  year  after  the  lion  was 
killed,  that  the  bees  were  found  in  its  skeleton  frame.  This 
was  quite  time  enough,  for  the  birds  and  beasts  of  prey  to  S 
have  eaten  the  flesh  off  from  the  bones,  and  for  the  hot  sun 
and  parching  winds  of  Asia  to  have  completely  dried  them. 
Ants  and  vultures  also  are  very  numerous  in  Asia,  and  may 
have  helped  to  prepare  the  carcass  for  the  bees.  The 
traveller  over  the  plains  on  the  west  side  of  our  continent 
has  often  seen  lying  on  the  road  side  the  bony  frame  of  an 
ox  or  of  a  horse  covered  with  a  whole  skin,  while  the  flesh 
was  eaten  out,  or  consumed,  leaving  quite  an  appropriate 
place  for  a  hive  of  bees.  Nor  are  we  without  evidence  of  bees 
having  settled  themselves  in  a  human  skull  and  in«tombs.  It 
is  well  known  that  they  are  very  ingenious,  and  can  accom- 
modate themselves  to  whatever  kind  of  habitation  may  be 
at  hand  wherever  they  are.  Hillocks,  crevices  of  the  rocks, 
and  hollow  trees  and  holes  in  the  earth  have  furnished  them 
hiving  places.  Jonathan,  David's  friend,  we  are  told,  came 


124  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

upon  a  bee-hive  in  the  woods,  where  the  honey-comb  was 
dropping  from  the  trees  to  the  ground.  1  Sam.  xiv.  I 
fancy  the  lion's  dried  frame  was  a  place  very  much  to  their 
liking.  It  was  in  a  secluded  spot,  among  vines  and  flowers. 
And  the  dry  bones  saved  them  a  good  deal  of  scaffolding. 
Herodotus  says  positively  that  "  bees  have  swarmed  in  dry 
bones/'  When  therefore  the  caviller  at  our  story  has  set- 
tled his  account  with  the  "  hoary  father  of  history/'  then 
we  may  have  more  patience  to  talk  with  him  about  his  ob- 
jections to  the  natural  history  of  the  Bible.  The  supply 
of  honey  was  another  proof  of  God's  providential  interfer- 
ence, and  should  have  taught  Samson  that  God's  blessings 
are  often  far  beyond  our  expectations.  He  looked  to  see 
the  skeleton  of  the  dead  lion,  and  behold  it  was  full  of 
honey. 

3.  In  vindicating  Samson  from  violating  his  vows  in  tak- 
ing honey  from  the  carcass  of  the  lion,  we  must  remember 
that  honey  was  not  a  prohibited  article.  A  Nazarite  might 
use  it.  And  then,  as  we  have  seen,  the  lion's  carcass  was 
not  now  foul  or  unclean.  There  was  no  legal  'pollution  in 
touching  the  bones  of  an  animal  bleached  by  the  winds  and 
rains  of  twelve  months.  Honey,  says  Hall,  is  honey  still, 
though  in  a  dead  lion.  And  though  accidentally  met  with, 
and  found  in  a  place  that  was  once  ceremonially  unclean,  it 
was  not  to  be  rejected.  The  grace  of  God  is  the  more  pre- 
cious if  the  vessel  is  unworthy.  It  is  a  weak  device  of  the 
devil  to  persuade  us  to  neglect  the  honey,  because  we  do 
not  like  the  lion.  The  treasure  is  in  earthen  vessels,  that 
the  excellence  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  It  is  sound 
theology  as  well  as  common  sense,  to  receive  and  enjoy  our 
heavenly  Father's  gifts  with  thankfulness  whenever  they 
are  .bestowed  upon  us.  Honey  is  not  to  be  despised  because 
it  is  sweet,  nor  the  light  because  it  is  pleasant.  Religion 
does  not  consist  in  making  every  thing  sour  and  bitter.  It 


SWEETNESS   OUT   OF    THE    STRONG.  125 

is  God's  will  that  we  should  be  happy,  and  rejoice  in  the  use 
of  the  good  things  lie  gives  us.  But  it  is  a  sin  to  abuse 
any  of  his  gifts. 

"So  his  father  went  down  unto  the  woman :  and  Samson 
made  there  a  feast;  for  so  used  the  young  men  to  do." 
They  are  married.  The  self-will  of  the  young  man  prevails. 
His  fancy  was  of  more  avail  than  anything  else  in  the  uni- 
verse. Nor  are  we  without  similar  examples  among  our 
every-day  sort  of  people.  The  ingredients  are  just  the 
same,  only  put  together  in  smaller  quantities,  so  that  ordinary 
men  are  without  the  characteristic  intensity  of  Samson. 
They  are  quite  as  guilty  of  earthly  passions,  but  without 
his  heroism.  But  here  is  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Sam- 
son married  is  Samson  in  trouble.  The  bane  of  his  life 
was  his  fondness  for  Philistine  women.  But  is  this  a  reflec- 
tion on  God's  institution  of  marriage  ?  Is  Samson's  unwise 
choice  an  argument  against  wedded  life  ?  By  no  means. 
The  abuse  of  a  good  thing  does  not  prove  that  it  is  really 
evil.  The  marvellous  Hebrew  is  now  in  bad  company.  At 
his  wedding 

"  He  gathered  revellers  from  far  and  near, 
•The  heartless  parasites  of  present  cheer." 

His  wife  was  a  heathen.  She  had  not  been  brought  up 
in  the  ways  of  godliness.  She  had  never  studied  Samson's 
catechism,  nor  offered  sacrifices  to  the  God  of  Abraham,  as 
he  had  done,  and  as  his  parents  had  done  before  him. 
There  was  no  community  of  feeling  between  them.  On 
every  subject  there  was  a  want  of  sympathy.  He  was  a 
Hebrew,  she  was  a  Philistine.  He  worshipped  Jehovah, 
she  worshipped  Dagon.  In  politics  and  religion  they  were 
altogether  antagonistic — irreconcilably  so.  There  was  no 
evidence  indeed  that  she  had  any  fancy  for  him.  Her 
wishes  seem  not  to  have  been  considered  at  all.  Nor  does 

she  seem  to  have  had  anything  to  say  in  the  matter.     It  is 

11* 


126  THE    GIANT-  JUDGE. 

strange  that  Samson  should  have  been  so  fixed  on  marry- 
ing a  woman  without  any  true  religion.  Piety  is  wo- 
man's highest  beauty  and  greatest  protection.  A  man 
without  religion  is  bad  enough — a  poor  reprobate  without 
peace  '}  but  a  woman  without  religion  is  still  more  revolt- 
ing. She  is  "  a  flame  without  heat ;  a  flower  without 
perfume."  Amid  all  the  trials,  storms,  and  tribulations  of 
this  world,  without  religious  faith,  she  is  "  a  drift  and  a 
wreck."  Who  that  has  ever  experienced  the  sweet  truth- 
fulness and  abiding  love  of  a  godly  mother,  or  a  pious  wife, 
or  a  u sister  dear,"  whose  being  is  in  her  brother's,  and  in 
her  devotion  to  her  heavenly  Father,  can  fail  to  appreciate 
the  worth  of  piety  in  woman  ?  Let  us  have  irreligion  any- 
where else  rather  than  in  our  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters. 
They  are  our  guardian  angels,  and  if  they  become  ministers 
of  evil,  all  men  are  lost. 

It  is  only  where  the  altars  of  family  worship  rise  amid 
the  toils  of  trade  and  art,  and  the  hearth-stone  glows  with 
domestic  love,  that  we  expect  a  permanently  prosperous  com- 
munity. 

So  vastly  important  is  this  whole  subject — important  in  a 
social  and  patriotic  point  of  view,  as  well  as  from  a  Christian 
stand-point — that  I  dwell  here  a  little  by  way  of  illustration, 
on  the  influence  of  marrying,  and  of  married  life  in  France. 
And  I  do  so  the  more,  because  it  has  not  received  the  atten- 
tion, in  my  humble  opinion,  that  it  deserves.  The  statesman 
and  historian,  M.  Thiers,  in  his  history  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, expresses  the  belief  that  the  corruptions  and  troubles 
of  France  are  to  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  her  women 
during  and  subsequent  to  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  He 
considers  it  the  great  misfortune  of  France  that  at  the  period 
of  the  Revolution,  all  the  Bourbons  of  France,  Naples,  and 
Spain  were  under  the  influence  of  their  wives  and  mistresses, 
who  were  not  the  women  for  their  times.  It  is  a  curious 


SWEETNESS   OUT    OF   THE   STRONG.  127 

and  highly  suggestive  fact,  that  from  1789  to  the  present 
time,  it  has  been  necessary  to  reduce  the  minimum  height 
for  enlistment  in  the  troops  of  the  line  of  France.  In  1789 
it  was  five  feet  one  inch  French  measure.  After  twenty-five 
years  of  constant  war — after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the 
minimum  was  reduced  to  less  than  four  feet  ten  inches;  and 
in  1830,  to  four  feet  nine  inches.  And  during  the  reign 
of  Louis  Philippe  it  was  again  reduced.  And  if  the  same 
stature  of  the  armies  of  Louis  XVI.  were  required  for  the 
soldiers  of  Louis  Napoleon  III.,  more  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  men  would  have  to  be  dismissed  from  the 
line. 

These  statements  are  chiefly  taken  and  abridged  from  the 
North  British  Review  for  1857.  They  are  abundantly  cor- 
roborated, however,  by  the  current  reports  of  France  on  the 
subject,  and  by  the  English  Reviews  for  the  years  1856  and 
1857  generally.  In  the  years  from  1831  to  1837,  504,000 
youths  were  admitted,  and  459,000  rejected  from  the  army 
of  France,  because  of  physical  defects.  And  for  the  next 
six  years,  from  1839  to  1845,  the  deterioration  was  even 
greater — only  486,000  were  admitted  against  491,000  re- 
jected. As  we  read  history,  it  is  clear  that  the  Copts,  Greeks, 
Italians,  and  Spaniards  as  races  have  deteriorated;  while  the 
Germans,  the  Russians,  and  the  Anglo-Saxons,  that  is  the 
British,  Irish,  Scotch,  and  Americans- are  still  vigorous  and 
advancing  in  power  as  nations.  But  how  is  it  with  France? 
Her  emperor  at  present  gives  law  to  Europe.  The  French 
are  a  most  extraordinary  people.  We  are  prepared  to* give 
to  them  the  full  meed  of  fame  to  which  they  are  entitled. 
In  many  things  they  are  emphatically  a  most  wonderful 
people.  But  as  a  nation,  their  own  statistics  show  they  are 
not  advancing  in  the  same  ratio,  as  their  neighbours  on  the 
continent  beyond  the  Rhine,  nor  across  the  channel.  At  the 
head  of  the  civilization  and  political  power  of  the  age,  how 


128  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

is  it  that  their  own  army  reports  show  such  a  marked  de- 
terioration in  their  physical  man  ?  I  seek  not  at  present 
any  further  solution  of  this  question,  than  to  look  at  it  from  a 
moral  and  religious  point  of  view.  And  the  explanation  is 
found  in  the  words  of  one  of  her  own  great  statesmen: 
France  wants  religion. .  Yes,  France  has  consumed  her  vital 
energies.  She  has  exhausted  herself  for  glory.  Like  lands 
forced  to  extraordinary  fruitfulness,  until  they  are  so  con- 
sumed that  even  chemical  appliances  can  no  longer  bring 
forth  the  harvest.  Wars,  and  the  loss  of  life  and  energy,  and 
the  consumption  of  the  healthy  subsistence  of  the  people  by 
an  enormous  army,  explain  in  part  this  exhaustion.  But 
the  cause  is  higher  still — lies  deeper  still.  It  is  found  in  a 
disregard  of  the  laws  of  God  in  respect  to  the  family.  In 
France  the  sexual  passions  are  subsidized  to  science,  and 
licentiousness  is  governed  by  a  philosophical  police;  "and  in 
Paris  one  child  in  every  three  is  born  out  of  wedlock." 

Though  the  social,  martial,  and  intellectual  status  of  France 
may  at  this  moment  be  as  high  as  it  ever  was,  yet  her  own 
statistics  show  an  obvious  physical  deterioration.  This  de- 
terioration, according  to  their  own  army  figures,  has  been  going 
on  regularly  for  almost  seventy  years.  And  why?  Because 
the  family  is  not  in  France  what  the  Bible  teaches  us  it 
should  be.  The  Bible  does  not  govern  the  social  habits  of 
the  French.  The  Creator,  who  has  the  residue  of  spirits 
in  his  hands,  and  could  therefore  have  created  many  women 
for  one  man,  made  man  male  and  female.  "And  wherefore 
one?  That  he  might  seek  a  godly  seed."  MaK  ii.  15. 
The  all  wise  Creator  says,  also,  "  It  is  not  good  for  man  to 
be  alone."  These  ordinances  of  the  Supreme,  many  of  our 
philosophical  neighbours  disregard.  And  if  they  do  not 
claim  that  it  is  good  to  be  alone,  they  will  at  least  be  free 
from  the  virtuous  ties  of  the  family  relation.  Our  idea  of  a 
home  they  entertain  not.  They  live  on  the  boulevards  and 


SWEETNESS   OUT    OF   THE    STRONG.  129 

in  the  restaurants.  Marriage  is  either  never  contracted,  or 
if  at  all,  late  in  life,  and  then  few  children  are  desired,  and 
even  these  few  are  brought  up  by  hired  nurses.  And  the 
very  causes,  moreover,  that  lead  to  this  neglect  of  marriage, 
strongly  tend  to  the  most  pernicious  physical  results.  The 
unrestrained  indulgence  of  lust  and  gaiety  are  so  expensive, 
that  a  lawful  family  cannot  be  supported  at  the  same  time; 
and  besides,  such  indulgences  weaken  and  destroy  the  con- 
stitution. Samson  in  part  illustrates  our  position.  He  had 
no  children.  If  he  had  married  according  to  the  usual  cus- 
tom of  his  country,  and  brought  up  a  family,  he  would  have 
been  a  far  better  citizen,  a  more  happy  man,  and  not  have 
come  to  a  violent  death. 

Politicians  and  philosophers  may  affect  to  smile  at  our 
simplicity;  but  from  the  lights  before  us,  it  is  palpable  that 
France  in  physical  stature  has  deteriorated,  while  her  neigh- 
bours of  different  social  habits  have  not;  and  in  the  abuse  of 
the  social  feelings  which  the  Creator  has  ordained,  and  in 
the  want  of  family  organizations  on  Bible  principles,  we  find 
causes  quite  sufficient  to  explain  the  diminished  stature  and 
physical  defects  of  her  masses.  The  society  of  women  is  a 
necessity  of  national  existence,  physically  and  morally.  If 
ua  man  discovered  America,  it  was  a  woman  that  equipped 
the  voyage."  And  so  it  is  everywhere.  No  matter  who  it 
is  that  executes,  he  was  born  and  trained  by  a  woman. 
Every  Columbus  that  has  left  his  mark  in  the  world,  was 
furnished  by  his  Isabella  mother,  who  for  that  purpose  laid 
aside  her  jewels,  it  may  be  her  personal  comforts,  certainly 
her  vanities  and  time-consuming  fashions.  Writers  on  the 
penal  colonies  of  Great  Britain  tel^  us  there  is  but  little 
hope  of  a  female  convict  unless  she  marries  and  becomes  a 
mother.  And  it  is  quite  as  well  known  that  men  who  are 
not  restrained  by  the  ties  of  home,  and  the  influence  of 
virtuous  women,  are  almost  hopeless,  God's  laws  cannot  be 


ICO  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

improved.  Then  let  the  wedded  lamp  burn  brightly  and 
cheerfully  where  it  is  already  kindled  j  and  if  in  any  of  our 
homes  it  has  grown  dim,  let  it  be  relumed.  And  let  him 
be  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  God  and  man,  who  discourages 
marriage  and  advocates  celibacy,  or  who  corrupts  society  by 
weakening  the  bonds  of  the  family  which  God  hath  joined 
together. 


THE   WEDDING   RIDDLE   AND    TRAGEDY.  131 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   WEDDING   RIDDLE   AND   TRAGEDY. 

"Hail,  wedded  love,  mysterious  law,  true  source 
Of  human  offspring,  sole  propriety 
In  Paradise  of  all  things  common  else  ; 
By  thee  adulterous  lust  was  driven  from  men, 
Among  the  bestial  herds  to  range  :  by  thee, 
Founded  in  reason,  loyal,  just,  and  pure, 
Relations  dear,  and  all  the  charities 
Of  father,  son,  and  brother  first  were  known. 
Perpetual  fountain  of  domestic  sweets — 
Here  love  his  golden  shafts  employs,  here  lights 
His  constant  lamp,  and  waves  his  purple  wings, 
Reigns  here  and  revels ;  not  in  the  bought  smile 
Of  harlots, — loveless,  joyless,  unendeared, 
Casual  fruition  ;  nor  in  court-amours, 
Mixed  dance,  or  wanton  mask,  or  midnight  hall, 
Or  serenade,  which  the  starved  lover  sings 
To  his  proud  fair,  best  quitted  with  disdain." 

Milton. 

IN  the  last  chapter  we  went  down  to  Samson's  wedding. 
Let  us  stay  awhile  at  the  feast,  and  when  tired  of  flowing 
cups  and  sparkling  wit,  we  shall  have  one  of  those  tragedies 
that  marked  the  earlier  administrations  of  our  giant  judge. 
His  introduction  to  the  bench  was  scarcely  less  distinguished 
than  his  exit  from  it. 

"  So  his  father  went  down  unto  the  woman ;  and  Samson 
made  there  a  feast ;  for  so  used  the  young  men  to  do.  And 


132  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

it  came  to  pass,  when 'they  saw  him,  that  they  brought  thirty 
companions  to  he  with  him/' 

His  father  did  not  go  alone ;  but  as  the  head  (Sheikh)  of 
the  family,  leading  them  to  the  wedding,  he  alone  is  men- 
tioned. The  Chaldaic  version  has  the  sense  of  the  passage 
exactly  :  ((  Went  down  relative  to  the  affair  of  the  woman." 
The  thirty  companions,  under  the  pretence  of  friendship, 
were  really  spies.  Many  of  the  courtesies  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  of  politicians,  are  hollow  and  thankless.  "  Open 
defiance  is  better  than  false  love.7' 

It  was  the  duty  of  these  "children  of  the  bridegroom/' 
as  his  "  friends,"  to  make  the  company  happy.  The  chief 
one  was  called  "the  governor  of  the  feast,"  as  we  see  in 
the  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee.  Such  was  the  condition 
of  the  Hebrews  at  this  time,  that  their  oppressors  would 
naturally  be  suspicious  of  any  Hebrew  of  such  noble  bear- 
ing and  prestige  as  Samson.  The  Philistines  were  probably 
somewhat  acquainted  with  his  conduct  in  the  camp  of  Dan, 
and  would  watch  him  closely,  even  at  his  marriage  feast. 

1.  I  do  not  see  anything  wrong  in  Samson  making  a 
feast,  as  the  young  men  used  to  do.  It  belonged  to  the 
bride  and  her  friends  to  say  what  its  details  should  be.  In 
so  far,  then,  as  he  could  comply  with  the  customs  of  her 
people,  without  sinning,  we  find  no  fault.  We  saay  concede 
prejudices,  but  cannot  compromise  a  duty.  We  may  sur- 
render our  likings,  profits,  or  preferences,  but  we  may  not 
surrender  a  principle.  And  I  do  not  see  but  that  it  is  law- 
ful and  proper  to  conform,  in  things  not  sinful,  to  the  cus- 
toms of  those  with  whom  we  live.  If  in  the  marriage  feast 
there  was  any  recognition  of  idols,  or  heathenish  ceremonies, 
then  Samson  did  wrong  to  submit.  Some  commentators 
so  understand  the  history,  but  I  do  not  see  any  evidence  of 
idolatrous  rites  in  the  marriage  or  the  feast.  In  teaching 
us  to  fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  the  Bible  does 


THE    WEDDING    RIDDLE   AND   TRAGEDY.  133 

not  require  us  to  be  proud,  mopish',  rude,  supercilious,  or 
ill  behaved.  In  becoming  a  Christian  a  man  does  not  cease 
to  be  any  the  less  a  gentleman.  The  want  of  genuine  polite- 
ness is  no  proof  of  true  religion. 

A  careful  examination  of  ancient  history  is  a  full  verifica- 
tion of  the  customs  alluded  to  in  the  text.  The  Philistines, 
early  Egyptians,  and  ancient  oriental  nations,  were  not  Turks 
in  their  treatment  of  women.  They  were  more  liberal  as 
to  the  social  -position  and  privileges  of  their  females  than 
modern  orientals  are.  Women,  in  ancient  times,  mingled 
with  the  men  at  their  feasts,  as  they  do  now  with  us.  The 
monuments  of  Egypt  prove  this,  as  well  as  the  history  of 
the  ancient  Chaldeans,  Persians,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  Nor 
can  it  be  shown,  historically,  that  their  presence  was  a 
disadvantage — rather  the  reverse.  It  has  been  said  by 
one*  of  the  most  observing  of  men,  and  withal  a  great 
humorist,  that  uall  men  who  avoid  female  society  have 
dull  perceptions,  and  are  stupid;  or  have  gross  tastes, 
and  revolt  against  what  is  pure.  Your  club  swaggerers, 
who  are  sucking  the  butts  of  billiard  cues  all  night,  call 
female  society  insipid.  Poetry  is  insipid  to  a  yokel;  beauty 
has  no  charms  for  a  blind  man ;  music  does  not  please  a 
poor  beast,  who  does  not  know  one  tune  from  another.  It 
is  better  for  you  to  pass  an  evening,  once  or  twice  a  week, 
in  a  lady's  drawing  room,  even  though  the  conversation  is 
rather  slow,  and  you  know  the  girl's  songs  by  heart,  than 
in  a  club,  tavern,  or  in  the  pit  of  a  theatre.  All  amuse- 
ments of  youth  to  which  women  are  not  admitted,  rely  on 
it,  are  deleterious  in  their  nature."  Woman's  society  is 
necessary  to  correct  the  pride  and  selfishness  of  men,  for  a 
man  is  bound  to  be  respectful  to  a  lady.  And  it  is  a  great 
point  gained  for  elevating  a  man's  character,  and  securing 


*  Thackeray. 
12 


134  THE    GiAiVi    jLiKjiE* 

his  good  morals,  when1  he  is  compelled  to  feel  that  there  is 
somebody  besides  himself  whose  feelings  and  tastes  are  to 
be  consulted — somebody  besides  his  lordly  self  to  whom  he 
must  be  respectful  and  attentive.  It  is  well  known  that 
men  are  better  behaved,  in  every  respect,  when  restrained 
by  woman's  refining  presence. 

The  same  customs  alluded  to  in  our  history  are  found 
still  in  the  East.  Islam  has  not  sensibly  affected  the 
usages  of  the  Arabs,  Turks,  Hindoos,  Persians.,  or  Africans, 
except  where  some  peculiar  religious  rite  is  concerned.  It 
is  not  probable  that  the  institutes  of  Moses  made  the 
Hebrews  differ  from  the  Oanaanite  neighbours  in  their 
general  customs — only  where  their  religion  prescribed  a 
difference.  Oriental  Christian  women — in  Nazareth  and 
Damascus  for  example — are  not  distinguished  materially 
from  Mohammedan  women  in  their  dress  and  social  habits. 
Women  in  our  mission  churches  in  Mohammedan  countries, 
are  separated  from  the  men  by  a  wall  or  screen  when  at 
worship. 

2.  At  weddings  it  was  common  to  have  games,  riddles, 
and  the  like  amusements. 

"  And  Samson  said  unto  them,  I  will  now  put  forth  a 
riddle  unto  you :  if  ye  can  certainly  declare  it  me,  within 
the  seven  days  of  the  feast,  and  find  it  out,  then  I  will  give 
you  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  changes  of  garments.  But  if 
ye  cannot  declare  it  me,  then  shall  ye  give  me  thirty  sheets 
and  thirty  changes  of  garments.  And  they  said  unto  him, 
Put  forth  thy  riddle,  that  we  may  hear  it.  And  he  said 
unto  them,  Out  of  the  eater  came  forth  meat,  and  out  of 
the  strong  came  forth  sweetness." 

An  old  scholiast  on  Aristophanes  is  quoted  by  Dr.  Clark, 
as  saying  that  it  was  "a  custom  among  the  ancient  Greeks 
to  propose,  at  their  festivals,  what  were  called  griphoi,  riddles, 
enigmas,  or  very  obscure  sayings,  both  curious  and  difficult, 


THE   WEDDING   RIDDLE   AND   TRAGEDY.  135 

-•- 

and  to  give" a  recompense  to  those  who  found  them  out,  which 

generally  consisted  either  in  a  festive  crown,  or  a  goblet  full 

of  wine.     Those  who  failed  to  solve  them  were  condemned  to 

drink  a  large  portion  of  fresh  water,  or  of  wine  mingled  with 

£  sea  water,  which  they  were  compelled  to  take  down  at  one 

draught,  without  drawing  their  breath,  their  hands  being 

$'  tied  behind  their  backs.     Sometimes  they  gave  the  crown 

•^jj?  to  the  deity  in  honour  of  whom  the  festival  was  made;  and 

if  none  could  solve  the  riddle,  the  reward  jvas  given  to  him 

who  proposed  it." 

g^    The  classics  abound  in  enigmas  proposed  at  such  enter- 
;    tainments.     The  Greeks  excelled  in  them.     The  solution  of 
^    these    "banquet- riddles,"   or    "cup-questions,"  was    always 
'    highly  applauded,  and  a  failure  implied  a  forfeit.     Is  there 
any  reason  why  the  Greeks  did  not  borrow  from   Samson's 
country,  by  the  way  of  Egypt?     And  may  we  not  take  a 
profitable  lesson  from  the  ancients,  as  to  our  social  entertain- 
3    ments?     It  were  a  much  better  way  to  spend  our  time  at 
seasons  of  merry-making,  in  expounding  enigmas  and  riddles, 
^    than  in  slandering  our  neighbours,  or  in  gluttony  or  exces- 
X    eive  drink.     At  our  weddings  let  there  be  entertainment  for 
c    the    mind,  as  well  as  employment  for  the  palate  and  the 
3     heels.     It  is  something  to  avoid  all  foolish  talking  and  vain 
v>     jestings,  and  all  filthiness  of  speech,  as  an  apostle  enjoins; 
but  it  is  more  to  improve  the  time  for  gaining  knowledge 
and  strengthening  good  resolutions.     It  is  surprising  how 
intelligent  some  men  are  merely  from  skill  in  conversation. 
They  read  hardly  anything,  but  from  being  associated  with 
well  informed  persons,  and  being  good  listeners,  and  skilful 
in  asking  questions,  they  acquire  a  vast  amount  of  useful 
and  important  information.     Our  social  habits  and  oppor- 
tunities should  be  diligently  employed  in  doing  and  receiving 
good. 

At  the  wedding  all  goes  on  merrily.     Sport  and  play  are 


136  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

in  the  ascendant.  The  cup-questions  were  as  sparkling  as 
the  cups.  Many  were  the  passages  at  wit.  At  last  Samson 
is  aroused.  He  says,  I  will  propose  a  riddle.  He  pits  his 
wit  against  the  whole  of  his  companions.  If  they  solve  his 
riddle,  he  is  to  pay  thirty  changes  of  raiment.  If  they  failed, 
they  are  to  pay  him  one  change  of  raiment  apiece.  The 
advantages  were  clearly  on  their  side.  They  could  lose  but 
one  change  each,  while  he  puts  in  peril  thirty.  The  strong 
and  the  great  joay  afford,  however,  to  be  generous,  but 
Samson  had  an  odd  humour  generally  of  putting  himself 
against  great  odds.  No  doubt  he  thought  himself  sure  of 
victory.  Nobody  but  himself  knew  about  the  bees  and  the 
honey.  Why  should  he  not  win?  The  combination  of  in- 
cidents implied  in  his  riddle  was  certainly  rare,  if  indeed 
they  had  ever  been  found  before.  But  as  in  all  good  riddles, 
the  explanation  was  palpable,  beyond  dispute,  as  soon  aa 
given.  It  was  like  Columbus's  solution  of  making  an  egg 
stand  on  end  on  the  table.  As  usual  on  such  occasions,  as 
soon  as  the  riddle  was  propounded,  almost  every  one  fancied 
his  ingenuity  was  competent  for  the  solution.  There  was 
much  guessing,  and  many  knowing  looks  among  the  guests. 
But  the  meaning  still  eluded  their  grasp.  Six  days  of  the 
seven  during  which  the  solution  must  be  given,  or  the  forfeit 
incurred,  have-past.  Their  pride  and  avarice  are  excited. 
They  could  not  brook  the  idea  of  being  defeated  by  a  young, 
long-haired,  rough  looking  Hebrew.  Nor  was  it  to  their 
taste  to  part  with  their  fine  wardrobes.  Nor  were  they  at 
all  scrupulous  as  to  the  means  they  might  employ.  They 
were  shrewd  enough  to  see  in  what  direction  Samson's 
weakest  points  lay.  Therefore  they  said  unto  his  wife, 
11  Entice  thy  husband,  that  he  may  declare  unto  us  the 
riddle,  lest  we  burn  thee  and  thy  father's  house  with  fire." 
The  alternative  was  not  a  very  appropriate  one  for  the  honey- 
moon. It  was  rather  rough  language  for  her  countrymen  to 


THE    WEDDING   RIDDLE    AND    TRAGEDY.  137 

use  if  she  did  not  get  them  out  of  this  difficulty.  They  do 
not  seem  to  have  had  any  regard  for  the  innocence  of  those 
they  were  ready  to  destroy — no  regard  for  human  life.  It 
may  be  that  much  more  may  have  been  said  and  done  than 
appears  from  the  record.  Surely  such  an  appeal  would  not 
have  been  made,  even  by  Philistines,  to  a  young  bride,  un- 
less the  case  was  deemed  a  desperate  one.  Nor  can  I  think, 
that  even  a  Philistine  wife  would  betray  her  newly  acquired 
husband  in  a  moment  and  for  a  slight  cause.  Her  country- 
men must  have  been  very  urgent.  They  must  at  first  have 
been  indignantly  repulsed,  and  have  often  appealed  to  her 
patriotism,  and  love  for  her  kindred,  before  she  could  have 
entertained  their  treacherous  proposals,  and  yielded  at  last 
under  the  pressure  of  their  cruel  threatenings. 

3.  The  forfeit  was  thirty  sheets  and  thirty  changes  of  gar- 
ments. The  Hebrew  for  sheets  is  sedinim,  hence  the  Greek 
sindan,  fine  linen.  The  term  here  means  body  garments, 
dresses,  shirts  rather  than  sheets — probably  garments  an- 
swering to  the  Jcumja  and  Jeaftan  of  the  Arabs.  The  kumja 
is  the  shirt  that  hangs  down  outside  of  the  drawers  to  the 
knees.  The  kaftan  is  the  coat  with  open  sleeves.  Others 
think  the  sheets  of  the  text  are  the  chaykes  of  the  Arabs, 
answering  very  nearly  to  the  Scottish  highland  plaid.  The 
marginal  reading  shirts  is  in  this  case  the  better  translation. 

"And  he  went  down  to  Askelon,  and  slew  thirty  men  of 
them,  and  took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  garments 
unto  them  which  expounded  the  riddle." 

"Their  spoil,"  or  apparel — the  garments  they  had  on,  in- 
cluding shirts  and  cloaks,  though  not  here  expressly  mentioned. 
He  obtained  from  them  what  he  needed  to  pay  his  forfeit. 
It  may  be  after  all  these  shirts  were  the  flowing  robes  of  per- 
sons of  quality.  It  is  highly  probable  the  men  whom  Sam- 
son slew  were  men  of  rank,  and  if  such  their  garments  were 
full  and  costly.  Isaiah  uses  the  same  Hebrew  term  for  the 


138  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

splendid  dresses  of  the  great  in  his  day.     These  mantles  or 
shawls,  as  we  should  call  them,  were  generally  made  of  wool,     j 
though  some  were  made  of  linen.     The  young  man  in  the 
gospel,  who  followed  our  Lord,  when  laid  hold  of  fled  naked,     \ 
leaving  "  the  linen  cloth."     This  does    not  mean  that  he     \ 
was  absolutely  naked,  when  he  left  his  plaid.     But  rather       \ 
than  remain  a  prisoner,  he  slipt  off  his  mantle  as  a  man 
might  now  do  his  loose  cloak,  and  ran,  leaving  it  in  their        / 
hands.     A  similar  explanation  belongs  to  Peter's  throwing       / 
off  his  fisher's  coat  or  tunic.     The  meaning  is  not  that  he 
was  in  a  state  of  absolute  nudity,  but  deprived  of  the  usual 
mantle  or  flowing  garment. 

4.  Let  us  hear  how  they  proceed  with  the  solution.  On 
the  seventh  day,  the  last  day  of  the  marriage  feast,  but  not 
till  just  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun,  they  said  to 
Samson,  "What  is  sweeter  than  honey?  and  what  is 
stronger  than  a  lion  ?"  In  Bible  times,  in  Bible  lands,  as 
it  is  still,  it  will  be  remembered  that  weddings  were  occa- 
sions of  great  ceremony.  The  feasting  usually  continued 
seven  days.  Laban,  in  Gen.  xxix.  27,  28,  refers  to  Leah's 
week  of  nuptial  ceremonies  which  could  not  be  interrupted 
by  the  espousal  of  Rachel.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  called 
the  marriage  week  of  feasting  "  the  nuptial  joy,"  and  did 
not  allow  any  work  to  be  done,  other  than  what  was  neces- 
sary to  carry  on  the  entertainment,  nor  permit  any  signs  of 
mourning.  It  was  also  the  custom  to  make  and  receive 
presents  during  the  nuptial  feast,  particularly  on  the  third 
day.  In  partriarchal  times  the  bride's  father  always  pre- 
sented his  daughter  with  a  female  slave  for  a  handmaid, 
who  was  to  be  inseparable  from  the  family.  She  was  to 
nurse  the  mother  and  the  little  ones,  and  to  be  faithful  to 
her  old  master's  daughter,  if  all  the  rest  of  the  world  should 
forsake  her.  Other  presents  were  also  exchanged  accord- 
ing to  the  wealth  and  rank  of  the  parties,  consisting  gener- 


THE    WEDDING    RIDDLE    AND    TRAGEDY.  139 

lly  of  jewelry,  couches,  beds,   vestments,  and  all  sorts  of 
things  reckoned  needful  for  house-keeping. 

tnd  Samson's  wife  wept  before  him — wept  before  him 
the  seten  days  while  the  feast  lasted."  Her  weeping  was 
not  out  of  affection  for  him.  Her  tears  were  crocodile 
tears,  or  they  were  tears  of  terror  for  her  own  sake.  She 
loved  him  not.  She  said,  however,  "  Thou  dost  but  hate  me, 
and  lovest  me  not:  thou  hast  put  forth  a  riddle  unto  the 
children  of  my  people,  and  hast  not  told  it  to  me.  And  he 
said  unto  her,  Behold,  I  have  not  told  it  my  father,  nor  my 
mother,  and  shall  I  tell  it  thee  ?"  Is  not  this  the  address  of  a 
jealous  or  teasing  wife  still  ?  When  she  wishes  to  have  ex- 
pressions of  endearment,  does  she  not  hypothecate  charges  of 
want  of  love  for  her  against  her  husband,  that  she  may  have 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  him  deny  them  ?  Nor  is  she  less 
skilful  than  Samson's  wife  in  instituting  a  rivalry  between 
herself  and  the  children  of  her  own  and  especially  of  his 
people.  And  is  not  Samson's,  answer  just  the  type  of  an 
honest  heart — of  a  great  and  true  man  ?  In  a  simple, 
straight  forward  way,  he  assures  her  that  he  had  not  kept 
the  secret  from  her  from  any  want  of  affection.  For  he  had 
not  told  it  to  his  own  father  or  mother.  Samson's  reply  is 
a  proverb  still  in  the  East.  When  any  one  wishes  to 
excuse  himself  from  telling  a  secret,  he  says,  "  Why  !  I  have 
not  told  it  either  to  my  father  or  my  mother  :  how  then  can  I 
tell  it  to  you  ?"  "  My  friend,  do  tell  me  the  secret."  "  Tell 
you  ?  Yes,  when  I  have  told  my  parents."  (See  Roberts, 
and  others.)  The  idea  that  Samson  wished  to  impress  upon 
his  wife  was,  that  he  had  not  treated  her  with  any  disre- 
spect or  coldness.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said  :  I  have  been  long 
with  my  father  and  mother.  They  have  uniformly  treated 
me  with  kindness.  They  have  done  a  great  deal  for  me — 
much  more  than  I  shall  ever  be  able  to  do  for  them.  They 
are  worthy  of  my  fullest  confidence.  I  love  them  dearly, 


140  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

and  yet  I  have  not  told  them  this  secret.  How  then  can  I 
tell  it  you  ?  If  I  tell  it  to  you,  will  I  not  show  a  want  of 
respect  for  them  ? 

I  fancy  the  human  races  are  very  much  the  same  in  all 
ages  and  countries.  And  although  it  is  heterodox,  I  should 
think  it  about  as  difficult  a  thing  for  a  man  in  modern  times 
to  keep  a  secret  as  for  a  woman.  I  am  not  sure,  but  when 
great  interests  are  involved,  women  are  more  trustworthy 
than  men.  Their  firmness  and  ready  wit  in  emergencies 
are  proverbial.  A  Hindoo  proverb  says :  "  To  a  woman 
tell  not  a  secret."  But  shall  we  believe  a  heathen  saying, 
rather  than  the  experience  of  a  Christian  age  ?  Samson's 
heathen  wife  is  not  our  model.  And  besides,  as  it  has  been 
shrewdly  remarked,  if  Samson  could  not  kee,p  his  own  secret, 
how  could  he  expect  his  wife  to  do  it  ?  Strange  that  he 
was  "  fool  enough  to  suppose  that  another  would  be  more 
faithful  to  him  than  he  was  to  himself/'  Indeed,  under 
all  the  circumstances,  it  is  wonderful  he  did  not  suspect 
treachery.  What  just  grounds  had  he  to  trust  in  a  Philis- 
tine woman  ? 

Whether  she  prevailed,  by  a  promise  of  secresy  or  not, 
the  history  does  not  say.  If  so,  the  promise  was  soon 
broken.  It  was  made  to  deceive.  But  who  would  believe 
the  word  of  a  faithless  wife  ?  And  yet  how  can  she  be 
resisted?  She  pleads,  and  weeps,  arid  accuses  him  of  not 
loving  her.  In  such  a  contest,  who  is  always  victorious  ? 
May  not  a  woman's  tears  prevail — especially  when  that  wo- 
man is  a  young  wife,  and  the  husband  uxorious  as  only  Sam- 
son could  be  ?  Some  allowance  should  be  made  for  the 
Israelitish  judge.  Who  that  ever  witnessed  a  similar  strife, 
can  wonder  that  the  strong  man  did  not  stand  out  against 
her  tears  ?  Young,  lovely,  and  his  bride  !  Few  men  of 
strong  minds  would  have  held  ojjt  any  better  than  the  giant 
judge.  To  us  his  greatest  weakness  seems  to  have  been  his 


THE    WEDDING    RIDDLE -AND    TRAGEDY.  141 

blindness  in  not  seeing  the  net  that  was  set  for  him.  He 
must  have  been  one  of  those  honest,  simple  hearted,  unsus- 
pecting great  souls  that  cannot  apprehend  the  depths  of  the 
cunning,  ^bor  the  meanness  of  the  selfish  and  pusillanimous. 
And  after  all,  there  is  a  manly,  a  heroic  necessity  to  rely 
on  the  truth  and  tenderness  of  woman's  nature.  In  child- 
hood and  youth,  in  manhood  and  old  age,  she  is  man's  truest 
friend.  In  sickness  and  sorrow,  in  works  of  charity  and  in 
acts  of  piety,  she  has  too  often  proved  herself  to  be  man's 
angel  of  mercy,  to  be  traduced  by  the  heartless  wretch  who 
is  incapable  of  appreciating  her  worth.  All  men  are  not 
Samsons,  nor  are  all  women  like  the  Timnite  bride,  nor  like 
Delilah  of  Sorek.  Those  who  are  the  loudest  and  the  most 
profane  in  their  complaints  of  the  weakness  of  women,  are 
the  very  men  who  have  themselves  done  the  most  to  corrupt 
them.  Woman  is  man's  other  self — without  her  he  is 
nothing.  She  is  his  blessing  and  his  joy  both  in  the  sun- 
shine arid  beauty  of  the  world,  and  in  its  darkness  and 
sorrow.  Who,  ye  revilers  of  womankind — who  were  your 
mothers  ?  And  besides,  has  woman  no  wrongs — no  cruel, 
outrageous  wrongs  to  avenge,  and  to  avenge  only  by  pour- 
ing out  to  your  faithless  sex  the  cup  you  yourselves  have 
drugged  first  for  her  ? 

5.  The  solution  is  given  at  the  appointed  hour.  Grimly 
exultant  the  men  of  fye  city,  just  before  the  sun  went  down 
on  the  seventh  day,  said  unto  Samson  :  "  What  is  sweeter 
than  honey  ?  and  what  is  stronger  than  a  lion  ?"  In  a  mo- 
ment he  saw  he  had  been  betrayed  "  And'  he  said  unto 
them,  If  ye  had  not  ploughed  with  my  heifer,  ye  had  not 
found  out  my  riddle."  Josephus  paraphrases  the  interview 
thus :  They  said  to  Samson,  "  Nothing  is  more  disagreeable 
than  a  lion  to  those  that  light  on  it,  and  nothing  is  sweeter 
than  honey  to  those  that  make  use  of  it."  To  which  he 
replied  :  "  Nothing  is  more  deceitful  than  a  woman  ;  for 


142  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

such  was  the  perfidious  person  that  discovered  my  interpre- 
tation to  you,"  He  meant,  doubtless,  that  without  the  as- 
sistance of  his  wife,  they  could  not  have  told  the  riddle. 
And  on  this  plea,  he  might  have  disputed  whether  they 
were  entitled  to  the  forfeit.  "  If  ye  had  not  ploughed  with 
my  heifer,"  was  probably  a  common  metaphor,  or  proverb. 
It  seems  to  have  been  used  with  two  shades  of  meaning,  one 
that  of  licentious  intercourse,  and  the  other  merely  of  fa- 
miliarity. The  original  does  not  necessarily  convey  the  idea 
of  wantonness,  if  it  allows  it  at  all.  And  his  return  to  be 
reconciled  forbids  such  an  interpretation.  The  idea  is  this 
— Samson  compares  his  wife  to  a  young  heifer  not  yet  fully 
subdued  to  the  yoke — not  yet  learned  to  go  patiently — not 
yet  obedient.  This  explanation,  though  it  may  not  be  ele- 
gant, mitigates. her  offence,  and  is  fully  sustained  by  the 
original  and  the  context. 

6.  Though  betrayed  and  badly  treated,  Samson  scorns 
to  complain,  but  goes  right  off  to  procure  the  means  to  pay 
his  forfeit.  He  was  neither  a  cruel  husband  nor  a  repudi- 
ator. 

"  And   the  Spirit  of  the  Lord   came  upon   him,  and  he 
""went  down  to  Askelon,  and  slew  thirty  men  of  them,  and 
took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  garments   unto  them 
which  expounded  the  riddle." 

By  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  coming  upon  him,  we  are  to 
understand,  that  he  was  inspired  with  the  courage  and 
strength  to  perform  the  following  feat.  He  made  Askelon 
his  wardrobe,  and  brought  thence  the  wager  of  garments 
for  the  winning  Philistines,  lined  with  the  blood  of  their 
own  countrymen.  We  know  not  the  causes  that  led  to  this 
pitched  battle  between  Samson  and  the  men  of  Askelon. 
Samson  may  have  had  a  few  warriors  with  him.  If  he  had 
not,  the  odds  were  veryvgrent  against  him.  Nor  must  we 
forget  that  the  Philistines  were  at  war  with  Israel.  There 


THE   WEDDING   RIDDLE    AND   TRAGEDY.  143 

may  Have  been  a  nominal  truce  between  Dan  and  the  Philis- 
ines  of  Timnath,  and  war  still  raging  between  the  Hebrews 
and  the  Askelonitos.  And  we  must  also  remember  that  in 
this  case,  as  when  Moses  slew  the  Egyptian  according  to 
the  Noachian  precept,  Samson  was  not  slaying  merely  for 
his  own  pleasure,  nor  merely  to  gratify  any  personal  ill  will. 
He  was  fulfilling  his  commission  to  deliver  Israel.  The 
Philistines  were  idolaters — they  were  enemies  to  God  as  well 
as  to  him  and  his  countrymen.  For  their  sins  they  had 
been  already  tried  in  the  court  of  Jehovah,  and  convicted, 
and  were  now  under  sentence,  and  Samson  was  appointed 
high  sheriff  to  execute  the  sentence.  Hij^aets  were  Jhere- 
fore  by  the  direction  and  assistance  of  God.  The  Hebre 
government  in  this  heroic  age  was  a  pure  theocracy.  Sam- 
son was  God's  lieutenant  general,  commissioned  to  execute 
judgment  upon  the  Philistines.  Their  crimes  were  also 
sins, -for  Jehovah  was  both  the  true  God  and  the  acting  king 
of  Israel.  The  punishment  on  the  Philistines  was,  first,  be- 
cause of  their  sins  against  God;  yet  as  God's  messenger, 
the  executioner  of  the  divine  sentence  upon  them,  Samson 
was  also  revenging  his  own  injury  and  his  national  wrongs. 

As  to  the  hypercriticism  urged  by  some,  that  as  Samson 
was  a  Nazarite,  he  could  not  have  touched  the  dead  bodies 
to  get  their  garments,  it  may  be  answered,  that  as  he  was  •••• 
acting  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  he  may 
have  had  a  dispensation  in  this  case,  to  do  what  on  ordinary 
occasions  he  could  not  have  done,  just  as  our  Lord  explains 
the  law  of  the  Sabbath ;  or  the  prohibition  may  not  have 
extended  to  a  Nazarite  for  life,  but  only  for  a  limited  period 
— or  better  still,  as  he  was  chief  magistrate,  he  could  have 
had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  men  to  strip  off  their  clothes 
and  carry  them  for  him  to  Timnath. 

7.  Samson's  "  anger  was  kindled  and  he  went  up  to  his 
father's  house."     Anger  is  as  natural  as  a  smile.     His  wife's 


144  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

treachery  was  a  just  cause  of  anger,  arid  his  going  up  to  his 
father's  house  at  this  time  showed  unusual  prudence  and 
forbearance.  When  he  returned  to  Timnath  to  pay  the  for- 
feit, he  seems  not  to  have  seen  his  wife.  But  lordly  as 
Achilles,  and  quite  as  angry  and  proud  in  his  own  self-con- 
sciousness of  unmerited  wrong  and  impulsive  ferocity,  he 
strides  off  home  to  his  father  and  mother.  It  was  not  wise 
for  him  to  trust  himself  in  his  wife's  presence  when  the 
sense  of  his  wrongs  was  so  warm  within  him.  He  probably 
feared  he  might  commit  some  great  outrage,  if  he  remained 
in  Timnath.  It  is  to  his  praise  that  he  thus  restrained  him- 
self, and  that  when  his  anger  did  burst  forth  in  consuming  fire, 
it  was  not  so  much  on  account  of  his  own  wounded  pride  as 
to  avenge  his  countrymen.  Patriotism  and  piety  are  con- 
spicuous in  his  heroic  deeds.  And  in  his  lingering  at  home 
we  see  traces  of  filial  love  and  of  early  piety.  Yet  for  some 
reason  or  other,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  made  his  parents 
his  confidants.  He  neither  told  them  how  he  was  moved 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  nor  did  he  ask  their  advice  about 
his  plans  against  their  enemies. 

"  But  Samson's  wife  was  given  to  his  companion,  whom 
he  had  used  as  his  friend."  That  is,  she  was  given  by  her 
father  and  the  chiefs  of  the  town  in  marriage  to  his  first 
groomsman.  Although  she  had  but  little  liberty  in  the 
matter,  still  no  doubt  she  was  glad  the  Hebrew  was  gone, 
and  that  she  was  the  wife  of  his  friend.  How  far  Samson 
was  justified  in  leaving  his  wife  is  not  altogether  clear  from 
the  text.  Most  probably  he  did  not  intend  a  final  separa- 
tion, although  tnis  was  the  result.  The  whole  history  is  not 
written  out.  Many  interpreters,  inconsistently  and  strangely, 
in  view  of  their  understanding  of  the  eighteenth  verse, 
blame  him  as  much  for  leaving  his  wife  as  for  marrying  her. 
It  is  a  most  practical  and  important  matter  for  us  to  guard 
against  the  demoralization  of  society  by  allowing  too  slight 


THE    WEDDING    RIDDLE    AND    TRAGEDY.  145 


onuses 


to  break   the   nuptial   bands.     Certainly  one  of  the 
great  sins  of  our  times  is  the  facility  of  obtaining  divorces. 
Too  little  sanctity  and  permanence  is  attached   to  the  mar- 
riage relation.    Marriage  is  a  sacred  institution.    It  was  a  gift 
from  heaven  to  man  before  there  was  any  sin.     Its  purity 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  prosperity.     The  marriage  re- 
^    lation  ought  not  to  be  dissolved  for  any  slight  cause — not 
v     from  mere  whims,  or  fancies,  or  momentary  passions,  nor  on 
>  .Vaccount  of   imaginary  wrongs.     I  could  wish  our  statutes 
d  our  practice  were  more  strict  on  this  subject. 
The  lesson  has  often  been  drawn  from  Samson's  marriage 
— that  Christians  should  only  marry  in  the  Lord.     Samson's 
case  is   indeed  an    admonitory  one.      Hereditary  enemies 
Hied  by  the  most  sacred  and  endearing  bonds — a  Nazarite, 
ne   peculiarly  set  apart  to  the  service  of  God,  united  in 
matrimony  to  an  idolatress.     Speaking  after  the  manner  of 
our  times,  we  should  say,  a  fair  face  and  a  warm  fancy  made 
'Jsad  work  with  the  strongest  man's  piety.     The  warning  of 
ithe  good  bishop  on  mixed  marriages,  although  scarcely  ever 
rVheeded,  is  worth  a  repetition.     "  I  wish,"  says  he,  "  Manoah 
<   ^  could  speak  so  loud,  that  all  our  Israelites  might  hear  him.  Ig 
^  r*there  never  a  woman  among  all  thy  brethren,  or  among  all 
^thy  people,  that  thou  goest  to  marry *a  stranger  to  God  and 
* ""  ^religion  ?"      It  were  often  better  to  attend  our  children's 
4  •  ^funeral  than  their  wedding.     Marriage  is  always  a  solemn 
^event.     Even  when  the  choice  has  been  agreeable  to  all  par- 
ities, the  future  is  an  unopened  volume.     A  veil   of  awful 
mystery  hangs  before  the  altar  of  marriage,  which  Omnipo- 
tence alone  can    penetrate.     There  is    no  surer  way  to  a 
broken  heart,  to  unutterable  woe,  and  an  early  grave,  than 
to  marry  a  fool,  or  a  man  without  correct  principles,  a  sot, 
M  spendthrift,  a  knave,  or  a  debauchee,  though  rich  as  Cn»- 
s  us,  clever  as  Byron,  or  handsome  as  Absalom. 
13 


146 


THE  GIANT  JUDGE, 


JUDGMENT  OF  THE  FOXES. 


"And  Samsoiy  caught  three  hundred  foxes,  and  took  .firebrands,  and 
turned  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  firebrand  in  the  midst  between  the  twe 
tails.  And  when  he  had  set  the  brands  on  fire,  he  let  them  go  into  the 
standing  corn  of  the  Philistines,  and  burnt  up  both  the  shocks,  and  also 
the  standing  corn,  with  the  vineyards  and  olives." 

AT  wheat-harvest,  which  in  Palestine  is  about  the  time 
of  Pentecost,  when  there  is  much  rejoicing  in  the  country, 
Samson  visited  his  wife  with  a  kid.  We  have  seen  that 
when  he  was  betrayed  by  his  wife,  he  left  her  in  great  dis- 
gust, and  went  to  Askelon  and  slew  thirty  Philistines  and 
paid  his  forfeit,  and  then  went  home  and  remained  a  good 
while  with  his  parents.  In  the  mean  time  his  anger  cools, 
and  his  affection  begins  to  return,  and  not  knowing  that 
his  wife  had  been  given  to  his  friend,  (probably  the  very 
person  to  whom  she  had  revealed  the  riddle,)  he  takes  a 
kid,  or  fawn,  and  returns  to  be  reconciled  to  her.  His 
father-in-law  was  doubtless  sincere  in  offering  him  his  wife's 
sister  in  her  stead.  This  was  the  best  indemnity  he  could 
make.  ^From  the  case  of  Laban,  who,  after  he  had  cheated 
Jacob  with  Leah,  gave  him  Rachel,  we  see  that  it  was  n@t 
unusual  for  a  man  to  marry  two  sisters.  It  was  probably  to 
correct  abuses  of  this  kind  that  the  law  of  Moses  was  after- 
wards enacted.  Samson's  forbearance  is  to  be  noted,  as 


THE   JUDGMENT    OF   THE   FOXES.  147 

also  his  effort  at  reconciliation.  Even  his  purpose  to  avenge 
himself,  seems  to  be  the  utterance  of  a  patriotic  judge, 
rather  than  of  an  aggrieved  husband.  If  he  had  meditated 
retaliation  merely  for  his  personal  injuries,  his  wife  and  her 
father  were  the  parties  to  have  been  chastised.  But  he  felt 
that  it  was  as  an  Israelite  chiefly  that  he  had  been  injured, 
and  as  such  he  would  be  more  guilty  than  even  the  Philis- 
tines, if  he  did  not  avenge  this  national  insult.  His  man- 
ner of  avenging  himself  was  extraordinary,  singular,  and 
effective.  His  agents  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  pairs  of 
foxes,  with  firebrands  tied  to  their  tails,  which  burned  their 
corn,  and  vineyards,  and  olives.  In  the  time  of  wheat-har- 
vest, the  corn  was  partly  standing,  and  partly  gathered  into 
shocks;  all  dead  ripe,  and  of  course  easily  burned.  Infi- 
dels have  attempted  to  be  merry  over  Samson's  foxes  and 
the  burning  cornfields  of  the  Philistines.  But  let  such 
remember  that  the  corn  was  not  maize  of  Indian  corn,  but 
wheat,  which  when  ripe  could  be  easily  burned,  either 
standing  in  the  field  or  gathered  into  shocks.  And  as  to 
Samson's  ability  to  catch  so  many  foxes,  let  it  be  observed  : 
1.  That  the  Hebrew  shualim  may  comprehend  not  only 
foxes,  but  wolves  and  hyenas.  The  Bible  name  for  fox  is  sup- 
posed to  be  derived  from  its  habit  of  burrowing  or  dwelling 
in  holes  in  the  earth,  and  may  be  as  applicable  to  wolves, 
hyenas,  and  jackals  as  to  foxes.  The  Septuagint  and  the 
Vulgate  both  understand  the  animal  in  this  place  to  be  the 
fox.  It  is  true  that  a  different  Hebrew  word  is  used  for 
the  jackal;  but  it  is  probable  the  term  shualim  included 
this  animal  also.  Hasselquist  and  some  other  naturalists 
have  thought  the  shual  of  Palestine  was  an  animal  between 
a  wolf  and  a  fox — "  the  little  eastern  fox,"  as  they  denomi- 
nate it,  and  not  our  ordinary  fox.  When  hungry,  this 
animal  is  said  to  devour  little  children,  and  even  old  and 


148  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

feeble  persons.  It  is  only  by  the  context  that  we  can  tell 
what  kind  of 'animals  are  meant  in  a  given  passage. 

2.  But  taking  the  term  here  in  its  comprehensive  sense, 
as  we  well  may,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  country  was 
full  of  foxes.  The  Scriptures  often  speak  of  them  in  the 
Holy  Land.  Their  cubs  ruined  the  vineyards,  according  to 
the  Song  of  Solomon,  ii.  15.  "  Take  us  the  foxes,  the 
little  foxes  that  spoil  our  vines."  And  Jeremiah  laments 
that  the  foxes  had1  taken  possession  of  the  hills  of  Judea. 
Lam.  v.  18.  And  Ezekiel  compares  the  numerous  false 
prophets  of  his  day  to  the  same  animals,  xiii.  4.  And  i» 
the  first  book  of  Samuel,  a  portion  of  this  very  country  is 
called  Shual,  that  is  the  land  of  foxes — famous  for  the 
number  of  these  animals  found  in  it.  And  a  neighbouring 
city  belonging  to  one  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  was  called 
Hazar-shual)  that  is,  the  abode  or  habitation  of  the  fox. 
Every  traveller  through  the  country  to  this  day,  confirms 
the  testimony  of  Bochart,  Bellonius,  and  Morizon,  that  ir. 
swarms  with  animals  of  this  species.  They  lurk  in  com- 
panies of  two  or  three  hundred  on  the  borders  of  the  desert, 
and  in  the  ruins  of  old  towns,  and  in  the  ledges  of  the 
rocks. 

8.  Samson  was  no  doubt  an  expert  hunter  as  well  as  a 
terrible  fighter,  and  well  skilled  in  taking  foxes.  And  then, 
as  a  chief  magistrate,  he  could  have  employed  as  many  men 
to  assist  him  as  was  necessary.  When  Nebuchadnezzar  is 
said  to  have  built  the  great  Babylon,  and  Solomon  to  have 
built  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  the  meaning  is  not  that  thry 
did  all  the  work  with  their  own  royal  hands.  They  di.i 
not  lay  a  single  brick,  stone,  or  timber  themselves.  But 
they  caflfeed  the  work  to  be  done.  ^There  is  no  necessity 
then  to  prove  that  Samson  caught  all  the  foxes  himself. 
Nor, 

4.   Are  we  restricted  to  any  short  or  definite  peiiod  of 


tf*%7fr0U£  —>'  <UW4^^ 

THE    JUDGMENT    OF    THE    FOXES'  149 

time  in  which  the  foxes  must  have  been  taken.  It  is  not 
said  they  were  all  caught  in  one  hour,  one  day*  or  one  week. 
He  may  have  been  several  months  in  capturing  them,  for 
anything  the  text  says. 

5.  Some  say,  though  I  do  not  attach  any  importance  to 
the  suggestion,  that  a  miraculous  agency  was  employed  in 
bringing  the  animals  to  Samson,  as  in  causing  them  to  come  * 
to  Adam  to  be  named,  and  to  Noah  into  the  ark.     It  is  not 
denied  that  God  can  control  the  instincts  and  guide  the  pro- 
pensities of  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes.     This  we  see  in  Daniel's 
lions,  Noah's  dove,  and   Peter's  fish ;  but  when  there  was 
no  necessity,  so  to  speak,  for  divine  interposition  in  a  miracu- 
lous manner,  I  prefer  not  to  call  for  it.     In  theology,  as  in 
philosophy,  there  is  no  useless  expenditure  of  Omnipotent 
energy.     But  a  miracle  is  none  the  less  a  true  miracle,  be- 
cause the  means  by  which  it  is  wrought  are  natural.     The 
converging  of  the  natural  agencies  in  force  on  the  desired 'N^ 
point  and  for  an  avowed  purpose,  is  sufficient  to  make  a  '   ^ , ; 
miracle. 

Surely  it  is  not  so  unheard  of  and  incredible  a  thing,  to 
have  collected  such  a  number  of  these  animals  in  ancient 
times,  as  to  destroy  the  credibility  and  literality  of  our  story, 
because  it  contains  this  statement  about  the  foxes.  Did 
not  Sylla  show  at  one  time  to  the  Romans  one  hundred 
lions  ?  And  Caesar  four  hundred,  and  Pompey  six  hundred  ? 
The  history  of  Roman  pleasures,  according  to  the  books, 
states  that  the  Emperor  Probus  let  loose  into  the  theatre  at 
one  time  one  thousand  wild  boars,  one  thousand  does,  one 
thousand  ostriches,  one  thousand  stags,  and  a  countless  mul- 
titude of  other  wild  animals.  At  another  time  he  exhibited 
one  hundred  leopards  from  Libya,  one  hundred  from  Syria, 
juid  three  hundred  bears.  When  the  caviller  settles  his 
hypercriticism  with  Vopiscus's  Life  of  Probus,  and  with 
Roman  history  generally,  we  shall  then  consider  whether 
13* 


150  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

our  story  should  be  rejected  as  incredible  because  of  its 
three  hundre'd  foxes. 

It  has  also  been  proved  by  learned  men  that  the  Romans 
had  a  custom,  which  they  seem  to  have  borrowed  from  the 
Phenicians,  who  were  near  neighbours  of  the  Philistines — if 
they  were  not  Philistines  themselves — of  letting  loose,  in 
the  middle  of  April,  (the  feast  of  Ceres) — the  very  time 
of  wheat-harvest  in  Palestine,  but  not  in  Italy — in  the  cir- 
cus, a  large  number  of  foxes  with  burning  torches  to  their 
tails.  Is  Samson's  the  original,  or  did  he  adopt  a  common 
custom  of  the  country  ?  The  story  of  the  celebrated 
Roman  vulpinaria,  or  feast  of  the  foxes,  as  told  by  Ovid 
and  others,  bears  a  remarkable  similarity  to  the  history  be- 
fore us,  ascribing  the  origin  of  this  Roman  custom  to  the 
following  circumstance  :  A  lad  caught  a  fox  which  had 
stolen  many  fowls,  and  having  enveloped  his  body  with 
straw,  set  it  on  fire  and  tet  him  run  loose.  The  fox,  hoping 
to  escape  from  the  fire,  took  to.  the  thick  standing  corn 
which  was  then  ready  for  the  sickle ;  and  the  wind  blowing 
hard  at  the  time,  the  flames  'soon  consumed  the  crop.  And 
from  this  circumstance  ever  afterwards,  a  law  of  the  city 
of  Rome  required  that  every  fox  caught  should  be  burnt 
alive.  This  is  the  substance  of  the  Roman  story,  which 
Bochart  and  others  insist  took  its  rise  from  the  burning  of 
the  cornfields  of  the  Philistines  by  Samson's  foxes.  The 
Judean  origin  of  the  custom  is  certainly  the  most  probable, 
and  in  every  way  the  most  satisfactory.  Commemorative 
institutions  or  fetes  always  have  their  origin  in  facts.  Of 
this  we  may  be  well  assured,  though  the  record  of  the 
original  facts  and  even  the  facts  themselves  should  be  lost 
through  the  lapse  of  time.  (See  Ovid  and  his  Scholiasts. 
Faster,  lib.  iv.  vers.  679.) 

~~?rXnd  took   fire-brands."     Our  word  lamp  is  probably 
through  the  Greek   lampns,   from  the   Hebrew  original  in 


THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  FOXES. 


151 


this  place,  laptdim,  or,  as  it  is  in  the  Chaldee  and  Syriac, 
lampidim.  These  lampidim  were  a  kind  of  torch  or  flam- 
beau, made  with  pitch.  The  animals  seemed  to  be  tied 
together  in  pairs,  tail  to  tail,  by  cords  of  moderate  length, 
and  the  torch  fastened  to  this  cord  about  midway.  -How 


those  animals  thus  treated  would  act,  we  may  easily  compre- 
hend. It  is  well  known  that  the  whole  fox  race  is  prone  to 
range  about  houses  and  fields,  and  when  frightened,  as  these 
were,  to  run  for  cover  to  the  thickest  corn,  if  standing,  or 
for  the  sheaves  or  stacks,  if  gathered ;  and  being  vexed  by 
the  pain  of  the  fire,  they  would  first  worry,  and  snap,  and 
fight,  and  run  at  cross  purposes,  and  so  spread  the  conflagra- 
tion, until  we  are  quite  ready  to  conclude  with  Calrnet, 
"that  nothing  could  be  better  adapted  to  produce  a  general 
conflagration,  than  this  expedient  of  combustion-commuiii- 
eating  jackals.  We  must  therefore  suppose  these  torches 
were  at  some  distance  from  the  animals,  so  as  not  to  burn 
them,  and  that  they  burnt  long  without  being  consumed." 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  experiment  has  ever  been  made 
to  see  how  foxes  would  act  tied  tail  to  tail  with  a  fire-brand 
between  them.  But  Dr.  Kitto,  (to  whose  Biblical  Tllus- 


152  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

trations  I  would  especially  refer  the  reader  for  much  valu- 
able  information  on  this  and  kindred  topics,)  says  he  once 
saw  two  dogs  so  tied  together,  and  that  they  first  pulled 
in  contrary  directions,  and  made  no 'head  way  at  all;  but 
at  last  ran  off  parallel  with  considerable  speed.  And  it  is 
presumed  foxes  are  as-sagacious  as  dogs.  At  first  there  may 
have  been  some  indecision  and  uncertain  turnings,  but  very 
soon  each  couple  found  that  the  only  way  to  reach  cover, 
was  for  them  to  run  together  in  parallel  lines  distant  from 
each  other  by  the  length  of  their  tails  and  burning  brands. 
And  thus  the  very  purpose  was  all  the  more  effectually  car- 
ried out.  The  fox  is  a  swift  runner.  And  when  tied 
together  as  in  this  case,  they  were  sure  to  run  this  way  and 
that  way,  and  to  spread  the  fire  all  over  the  fields.  Nor 
could  they  readily  escape  to  the  woods,  or  to  their  holes  in 
the  rocks,  where  the  fire-brands  would  have  been  extin- 
guished. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  cornfields  of  that  country 
were  not  separated  by  high  fences,  or  deep  ditches  or  hedges, 
but  extended  as  now  in  Celo-Syria,  or  Esdraelon,  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  see,  one  vast  level  unbroken  plain  of  waving 
grain.  One  hundred  and  fifty  pairs  of  such  animals,  run- 
ning with  flaming  torches  to  their  tails,  would  very  soon  set 
an  immense  plain  in  a  blaze.  The  tying  of  the  animals  in 
pairs  may  have  been  to  prevent  their  reaching  cover  too 
soon.  And  besides,  if  the  fire  brand  had  been  attached  to 
them  singly,  the  tail  would  have  fallen  to  the  ground,  and 
the  brand  would  have  soon  died  out ;  but  being  sustained 
by  the  tension  between  the  pair,  the  brand  flamed  out,  and 
burnt  all  the  better  for  their  rapid  motion  after  it  was  once 
kindled,  .and  so  the  greater  would  be  the  damage. 

Frequent  fires  occur  to  this  day  among  the  towns  of 
the  interior  of  Asia  and  Africa,  that  are  kindled  and  made 
to  spread  from  town  to  town  by  their  enemies  tying  a  burn- 


THE    JUDGMENT    OF    THE    FOXES.  153    fc 

ing  cotton  thread  to  the  tail  of  a  large  species  of  buzzard, 
which  flies  to  the  thatch  of  the  houses  when  set  adrift.*        %J 

Dr.  Kitto  says  of  the  burning  of  the  harvest-fields,  that 
JIN  bread  is  the  staff  of  life,  if  any  other  man  than  Sam- 
son had  done  it,  he  should  have  been  "  hanged" — "  that 
it  looks  like  both  a  religious  and  social  sacrifice,  deliber- 
ately to  waste  and  destroy  it."  Now  if  it  would  have 
been  right  to  hang  any  other  man  for  doing  what  Samson 
did  under  the  same  circumstances,  then  Samson  should 
have  been  hanged.  But  where  is  the  authority  for  hang- 
ing or  taking  away  life  for  any  crime  except  that  of  murder? 
And  besides,  I  do  not  seethe  affair  in  that  light.  Was  not 
Sa  inson  the  divinely  commissioned  deliverer  of  Israel  ?  Were 
not  the  Philistines  at  war  with  Israel?  Had  he  not  then 
a  right  to  cut  off  their  supplies  ?  It  is  allowed  in  war  to 
deprive  an  enemy  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  thus 
liberate  the  state  from  their  depredations.  But  if  this  is 
not  sufficient,  our  hero  bore  £  divine  commission  before  he 
was  born,  to  do  the  Philistines  all  the  harm  he  could.  This 
must  end  the  strife.  .  The  method  adopted  we  have  admit- 
ted was  a  singular  one,  but  it  was  very  effective.  Samson's 
commission  was  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  Philistines.  He 
was  raised  up  to  be  a  judge,  called  and  appointed  by  God 
himself,  who  was  then  the.  only  king  of  Israel,  to  execute 
judgment  on -the  Philistines.  He  was  not  acting  as  a 
private  person,  nor  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  nor 
assuming  the  sovereignty  of  the  state.  It  was  his  duty  to 
prosecute  the  mission  for  which  God  had  raised  him  up. 
True,  he  is  now  the  more  ready  to  begin  it,  because  he  has 
personal  wrongs  to  avenge.  But  he  feels  that  it  is  as  an 
Israelite  that  he  has  been  insulted  and  wronged  in  the  mat- 
ter of  his  wife,  and  his  patriotism  and  the  honour  of  his  God 

*  Cupt.  Cinpperton's  Journal  of  his  Second  Expedition,  p.  274. 


v» 

I 


154  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

require  him  to  punish  them.  His  enemies  are  numerous 
and  more  warlike  than  his  own  countrymen.  Their  fields 
are  full  of  ripe  corn.  The  country  abounds  in  foxes.  These 
animals  are  swift  runners.  Why  may  he  not  use  them  as 
his  agents  in  afflicting  the  Philistines?  Why  may  he  not 
rid  the  country  of  so  many  of  these  noxious  animals  either 
by  thus  destroying  them,  or  frightening  them  away,  and  at 
the  same  time  avenge  his  personal  wrongs  by  punishing  the 
Philistines  in  the  way  that  would  bring  upon  them  the 
highest  ridicule  and  contempt  ? 

In  this  history  we  have'  a  most  remarkable  illustration  of 
the  terrible  law  of  retribution  which  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
the  universe  has  ordained,  the  presence  of  which  runs  like 
a  flame  of  fire  through  all  the  history  and  through  all  the 
dispensations  of*providence.  In  selecting  foxes  as  instru- 
ments of  his  vengeance,  Samson  selected  the  animals  which, 
of  all  others,  were  the  most  appropriate  to  the  nature  of  the 
insult.  Foxes  are  cunning;  and  it  was  through  their  wit 
the  Philistines  had  prevailed  against  him.  They  had  won 
the  garments  by  stratagem,  and  now  their  cornfields  are 
burned  by  foxes. 

But  the  judgments  of  God  that  begin  on  a  man's  prop- 
erty, if  not  arrested  by  penitence  and  forgiveness,  soon  take 
hold  of  his  person.  This  was  the  process  even  with  Job, 
and  with  the  Egyptians,  though  in  them  the  attributes  illus- 
strated  are  different.  From  the  murrain  among  their  cat- 
tle, the  Lord  proceeds  until  the  first  born  is  slain.  "  And 
if  judgment  begin  at^the  house  of  Grod,  what  will  be  the 
end  of  the  ungodly,  who  obey  not  the  gospel  ?" 

When  the  Philistines  saw  their  cornfields,  vineyards,  and 
olive-yards  destroyed,  they  at  once  understood  how  and  for 
what  it  was  done  ;  they  therefore  came  and  burnt  Samson's 
wife  and  her  father,  inflicting  upon  her  the  very  death 
threatened,  and  to  escape  which  f-he  had  betrayed  her  newly 


THE   JUDGMENT    OF   THE   FOXES.  156 

married  husband.  Because  Samson  had  burnt  their  fields 
of  corn,  the  Philistines  burnt  the  Timnites.  They  must 
have  felt  that  Samson  had  been  unjustly  treated,  and  hoped 
by  this  means  to  appease  him.  The  retribution  upon  Sam- 
son's wife  and  father  was  most  inhuman  and  barbarous,  and 
in  every  way  out  of  all  proportion  in  fts  severity.  It  does 
not  appear  that  either  of  them  had  any  thing  to  do  with 
the  burning  of  the  cornfields,  yet  their  own  countrymen 
burn  them  for  what  the  Hebrew  Samson  had  done.  The 
fire-brands  of  the  running  foxes  were  not  so  destructive  as 
the  fire  of  dissension  kindled  among  the  Philistines.  There 
is  nothing  more  pleasing  to  the  enemies  of  free  institutions 
than  to  see  their  friends  pulling  each  other  by  the  ears. 
No  other  hands  but  our  own  can  ever  pull  down  and  destroy 
the  temples  of  justice,  liberty,  and  religion  erected  for  us 
by  our  blessed  fathers  in  this  fair  land.  Union  is  our 
strength. 

Samson's  wife  in  trying  to  avoid  Scylla  fell  into  Cha- 
rybdis.  She  betrayed  her  husband,  because  she  feared  heT 
brethren  would  burn  her  and  her  father's  house  with  fire, 
and  yet  by  their  hands  she  was  burned  with  fire  and  her 
father  also.  She  leaped  into  the  flames  she  meant  to  avoid. 
The  Jews  who  crucified  our  Lord  did  just  the  same  thing. 
They  professed  to  proceed  against  him  to  put  him  to  death 
as  Caesar's  friends,  lest  the  Romans  should  come  and  de- 
stroy them.  And  they  succeeded  in  crucifying  him,  but 
the  Romans  came,  and  burnt  their  temple  and  city  with 
fire.  It  is  stfll  the  rule  of  providence,  that  as  men  measure 
to  others  so  it  shall  be  measured  to  them  again.  It  should 
be  eternally  before  our  minds,  that  true  principle  is  the  only 
expediency.  What  God  does  is  right.  What  he  commands 
we  must  do.  His  will  is  the  supreme  rule.  Our  duty  is 
obedience.  All  history,  both  sacred  and  profane,  shows  that 
the  evil  that  men  do  in  trying  to  escape  by  continuing  to 


156  THE  GIANT    JUDGE. 

sin — by  doing  wrong  to  correct  a  wrong — by  doing  evil  tbat 
good  may  come,  even  when  their  motives  are  admitted  to 
be  good — always  meets  them  sooner  or  later  in  their  flight. 
Sin  added  to  sin  only  enhances  guilt.  The  history  of  the 
dishonest  and  the  licentious  is  an  illustrated  commentary  on 
this  rule  Those  that  hasten  to  be  rich,  by  resorting  to  dis- 
honest means,  and  have  accumulated  property  by  fraud,  do 
not  generally  long  enjoy  it.  They  seldom  retain  their  gains, 
and  if  they  do,  how  can  they  enjoy  them  haunted  with  a 
guilty  conscience  ?  The  general  rule  is,  that  Haman  him- 
self hangs  on  his  own  gallows,  and  not  Mordecai.  It  is  a 
singular  and  significant  providence  that  so  many  of  the  in- 
ventors of  means  for  taking  the  life  of  their  fellow  men, 
should  have  perished  by  their  own  inventions.  Gunpowder 
was  the  death  of  its  inventor;  Phalaris  was  destroyed  by 
his  own  "  brazen  bull."  The  regent  Morton  who  first  in- 
troduced the  "  Maiden,"  a  Scottish  instrument  of  decapita- 
tion, like  the  inventor  of  the  Guillotine,  perished  by  his  own 
instrument.  The  same  is  true  of  Brodie,  who  induced  the 
Edinburgh  magistrates  to  use  the  "  new  drop,"  the  same 
still  in  use.  Marat,  the  bloody-minded,  died  from  the 
assassin's  dagger.  Danton  and  Robespierre  conspired  the 
death  of  Vergniaud  and*  of  his  republican  confreres,  the 
noble  Girondists,  and  then  Robespierre  lived  only  long 
enough  to  see  the  death  of  Danton  before  perishing  himself 
by  the  same  guillotine.  The  duke  of  Orleans,  the  infamous 
Egalite*,  voted  for  the  death  of  Louis  XVI,  and  not  long  after- 
wards was  guillotined  himself.  The  wicked  are  taken  in  their 
own  net.  They  fall  into  the  ditch  their  own  hands  have 
digged.  a  Bloody  minded  and  deceitful  men  shall  not  live 
out  half  their  days/'  Sinning  is  a  sure  paymaster,  and  if 
delayed,  the  interest  compounds  rapidly.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  adjourn  to  the  court  of  futurity  to  know  that  sin  is  an  evil 
thing  and  bitter.  The  way  of  the  transgressors  against  both 


THE   JtmpMENT   OF   THE    FOXES.  157 

natural  and  moral  laws  is  now  hard.  The  day  of  reckoning 
follows  hard  after  sinful  indulgence.  Nature  is  inexorable. 
Her  outraged  laws  must  be  avenged.  The  libertine  and  the 
drunkard  find  it  to  be  so.  Their  bodies  and  minds  soon  bear 
the  marks  of  guilt  and  punishment.  Passions  and  appetites 
abused  soon  change  the  body  into  a  prison  for  the  soul.  No 
fugitive  escapes  the  police  of  God  and  nature.  The  penal- 
ties annexed  by  the  Creator  to  the  violation  of  the  laws  of 
our  physical  constitution,  areas  awful  as  they  are  inevitable. 
Sooner  or  later,  at  home  or  abroad,  on  land  or  sea,  conscience 
will  awake  and  seize  the  guilty ;  and  abused  nature  will  cry 
out,  and  fearful  retribution  will  fall  upon  them;  or  if  not  in 
this  life,  it  will  be  all  the  more  fearful  because  it  falls  upon 
them  beyond  the  grave,  where  no  repentance  nor  acts  of 
pardon  are  known.  But  this  is  the  -day  of  grace.  This  is 
the  hour  of  pardon.  There  is  a  great  Redeemer,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  wljo  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  And  if  we 
confess  our  sins  to  God,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us 
our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.  "  The 
blood  of  Jesus"  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
14 


THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER. 

"  My  life  hath  been  a  combat, 

And  every  thought  a  wound,  till  I  am  scarr'd 
In  the  immortal  part  of  me." — Manfred. 

"AND  Samson  said  unto  them,  Though  ye  have  done 
this,  yet  will  I  be  avenged  of  you,  and  after  j;hat  I  will 
cease.  And  he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a  great 
slaughter.  And  he  went  down  and  dwelt  in  the  top  of  the 
rock  Etam."  The  reader  will  please  read  the  fifteenth 
^chapter  of  Judges  from  the  seventh  verse  to  the  end. 
Homer's  heroes  were  never  at  a  loss  for  weapons,  for  with 
whatever  kind  of  arms  they  began  to  fight,  they  always  fin- 
ished by  throwing  stones.  The  "  fierce  Tydides"  scrupled 
not  to  throw  a  rocky  fragment  so  great  that  two  men  in  the 
degenerate  days  of  the  poet  could  not  raise  it  against  a  foe } 
and 

'  Where  to  the  hip  the  inserted  thigh  unites, 
Full  on  the  bone  the  pointed  marble  lights  ; 
Through  both  the  tendons  broke  the  rugged  stone, 
And  stripped  the  skin  and  crack'd  the  solid  bone." 

Iliad,  Lib.  v.  375—378. 

The  traveller  from  Thun  to  Grindelwald  in  the  Bernese 
Alps,  is  shown  to  this  day  the  huge  stones  with  which  the 
Swiss  Samsons  have  been  wont  to  amuse  themselves.  They 


THE   JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER.  169 

are  not  so  large,  it"  is  true,  as  the  mountains  which  the 
giants  are  fabled  to  have  plucked  up  and  used  as  javelins  in 
their  wars ;  but  they  are  of  enormous  size. 

The  learned  give  various  explanations  of  this  "  hip  and 
thigh "  slaughter.  Good  critics  say  that  the  text  literally 
means,  that  in  their  running  away  from  Samson,  he  kicked 
them  down,  and  then  trod  them  to  death ;  and  thus  his  leg 
or  thigh  was  against  their  hip.  Gesenius  considers  the 
phrase  as  a  proverbial  expression,  meaning  that  he  smote 
them  with  a  great  slaughter,  cutting  them  all  to  pieces  and 
scattering  their  limbs  promiscuously,  literally,  "  leg  upon 
thigh."  It  was  certainly  a  most  extraordinary  battle.  One, 
and  he  unarmed,  contending  with  many  thousands,  and  these 
thousands  covered  with  armour  and  fighting  with  their  chosen 
weapons.  But  it  is  probable  the  fear  of  the  Lord  fell  on 
them  as  soon  as  Samson  began  to  deal  his  terrific  blows,  so 
that  in  their  panic  they  trampled  down,  and  bruised,  and 
rendered  unfit  for  service  even  a  greater  number  than  were 
killed  outright.  Though  translators  differ  as  to  the  applica- 
tion of  some  of  the  words  found  in  this  passage,  all  agree 
in  the  general  meaning.  Proverbial  phrases  are  always 
hard  to  explain,  after  the  language  in  which  they  have  their 
origin  ceases  to  be  a  living  tongue. 

It  is  much  more  important  to  notice  the  principle  on 
which  Samson  acted,  than  to  explain  how  he  smote  them. 
The  history  of  this  fight  is  brief.  We  are  not  told  how, 
nor  on  what  account  they  met.  Generally  Samson's  move- 
ments against  the  Philistines  were  aggressive ;  but  here,  I 
think,  they  attacked  him.  No  doubt  they  were  always  ready 
for  any  opportunity  to  seize  his  person,  or  to  kill  him.  But 
when  they  came  upon  him,  he  slew  them"  hip  and  thigh 
with  a  great  slaughter."  .  He  was  not  acting  as  a  mere 
private  person,  even  if  he  were  entirely  alone.  He  was  the 


160  THE    GIANT    JUDGE. 

chief  magistrate,  and  commissioned  from  heaven  to  execute 
divine  sentence  upon  the  Philistines. 

"  And  he  dwelt  in  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam."  From 
1  Chron.  iv.  3,  33,  and  2  Chron.  xi.  6,  it  would  seem  that 
Rehoboani  built  a  fortress,  or  fortified  a  town  near  the  rock 
Etam,  which  was  called  by  the  same  name.  This  place  was 
within  the  territory  of  Judah,  between  Tekoah  and  Bethle- 
hem. And  according  to  Josephus,  who  calls  it  Hethan,  it 
was  fifteen  miles  from  Jerusalem.  The  rock  probably  gave 
name  to  the  town,  and  was  famous  for  its  natural  strength, 
or  safety  as  a  place  of  'retreat.  David  sought  refuge  often 
in  the  caves  of  Engedi,  (Ain  Jiddy).  The  stronghold^  of 
the  hill  country  of  Judea,  were  its  caves  and  holes  in  the 
rocks.  1  Sam.  xxiii.  and  xxiv. 

In  the  military  operations  of  the  French  in  Africa  a  few 
years  since,  a  number  of  Arabs  took  shelter  in  a  rock 
cavern,  and  so  ably  defended  themselves,  that  they  had  at 
last  to  be  destroyed  by  making  a  fire  in  the  cave's  mouth. 
In  1634  when  the  Sultan  ordered  the  Bashaw  of  Damascus 
to  make  the  rebel  Emir  Faccardine  a  prisoner,  the  latter 
shut  himself  up  in  the  hollow  of  a  great  rock,  with  a  small 
number  of  his  officers.  The  Bashaw  besieged  him  several 
months,  but  at  last  when  he  had  made  all  necessary  prepara- 
tions to  blow  up  the  rock,  the  Emir  surrendered. 

From  the  twentieth  verse — "  And  he  judged  Israel  in 
the  days  of  the  Philistines  twenty  years," — it  is  to  be  in- 
ferred that  during  all  his  administration  the  Philistines 
were  troublesome.  It  was  his  mission  only  to  begin  the 
deliverance  of  his  people.  The  Philistines  were  harassed 
and  weakened,  but  not  wholly  overcome.  Their  yoke  was 
not  broken  till  the  days  of  David, 

While  Samson  is  in  the  cave  of  the  rock  Etam  his  coun- 
trymen appear  to  have  been  in  a  very  humiliating  condition. 
We  have  found  that  at  a  subsequent  period  thov  wore 


THE   JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER.  161 

inferior  to  the  Philistines  as  manufacturers,  and  obliged  to 
go  to  them  to  get  their  axes  and  coulters  sharpened.  They 
appear  here  inferior  also  as  warriors,  and  except  when  led 
by  some  champion  under  miraculous  impulses,  they  were 
not  able  to  stand  before  them  in  battle.  From  the  confes- 
sion of  the  men  of  Judah  in  the  eleventh  verse,  it  is  clear 
their  spirit  was  broken,  and  their  heart  was  as  water.  Their 
only  desire  was  to  escape  farther  annoyance  from  the  Philis- 
tines by  making  Samson  their  prisoner..  They  were  more 
anxious  to  sacrifice  him  to  their  enemies,  than  to  follow  him 
in  a  glorious  struggle  to  victory  or  death.  After  the  evi- 
dgnce  they  had  of  his  power  to  deliver  them,  their  pusillani- 
mity seems  almost  incredible. 

"  Why  are  ye  come  up  against  us  ?"  said  the  men  of 
Judah  to  the  Philistines.  We  pay  our  tribute  punctually  ; 
we  have  committed  no  new  offence.  True,  said  the  lordly 
Philistines  ;  we  have  no  new  cause  of  complaint  against  you. 
But  there  is  a  Hebrew  harboured  among  you,  or  dwelling  in 
Tour  territory,  who  has  done  us  a  great  deal  of  mischief. 
"  To  bind  Samson  are  we  come  up,  to  do  to  him,  as  he  hath 
done  to  us."  And  then  the  men  of  Judah,  three  thousand 
strong,  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam  to  bind  Sam- 
son, to  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  Shame, 
yo  men  of  Judah  !  Why  did  you  not  rather  put  your  giant 
judge,  Jehovah's  lieutenant-general,  at  the  head  of  your 
forces,  and  strike  a  blow  for  God  and  liberty?  And  they 
said  to  Samson,  Do  you  not  know  that  we  are  under  the 
yoke  of  the  Philistines,  and  that  we  are  not  able  to  shake 
it  off?  Why  then  are  you. continually  insulting  and  pro- 
voking them  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  we  must  smart  for 
all  your  provocations  ?  But  now  mark  the  hero's  reply.  He 
speaks  with  becoming  magnanimity.  He  does  not  upbraid 
them,  as  he  might  very  justly  have  done,  for  their  want  of  hon- 
our and  courage;  but  generously  forbearing  all  reproach,  stipu 
14* 


162  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

lates  only  that  they  shall  not  lay  hands  on  him  themselves. 
I  have  done  to  them,  says  Samson,  only  as  they  have  dune 
unto  me.  But  swear  unto  me,  that  ye  will  not  fall  upon 
me  yourselves,  and  you  may  bind  me,  and  deliver  me  into 
their  hands. 

Samson  must  have  been  strongly  posted  to  render  it  ne- 
cessary for  so  large  a  force  to  come  to  take  him,  or  they 
must  have  had  a  most  extraordinary  idea  of  his  strength 
and  courage.  It  is  a  mooted  point  with  commentators 
whether  he  had  a  body  guard  of  tried  men,  or  was  alone. 
I  should  think  from  the  nature  of  his  office,  and  from  this 
whole  history,  that  he  was  alone,  and  without  any  warrior 
band.  But  I  see  no  reason  why  he  could  not  have  delivered 
himself  from  the  men  of  Judah,  as  easily  as  he  did  soon 
afterwards  from  the  Philistines,  except  that  he  had  no  divine 
commission  to  kill  his  countrymen.  Nor  is  there  any  evi- 
dence that  he  had  any  wish  ever  to  imbrue  his  hands  in 
their  blood.  His  mission  was  specific.  Nor  can  I  find  any 
justifiable  excuse  for  his  cousins  the  men  of  Judah.  The 
Philistines  were  their  oppressors.  They  were  the  enemies 
of  their  fathers  and  of  their  religion.  God  had  raised  up 
Samson  to  be  a  deliverer.  Why  then  did  they  not  now  strike 
for  their  altars  and  their  sires,  their  wives  and  their  little 
ones  ?  Instead  of  this,  with  craven  heart,  they  bind  their 
God-sent  champion,  who  voluntarily  surrenders  himself  to 
them,  to  deliver  hirn  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines  It 
was  nothing  that  Samson  was  not  of  their  tribe.  He  was  a 
Hebrew.  It  was  nothing  that  Washington  was  of  Virginia 
rather  than  pf  Massachusetts. .  He  was  an  American.  And 
we,  though  of  different  states,  are  all  Americans.  We  have 
one  father,  one  constitution,  and  one  destiny. 

In  the  stipulation  also  that  they  would  not  fall  upon  him 
themselves,  there  is  still  greater  shame.  I  am  painfully 
aware  that  some  excuses  are  alleged  for  their  not  rallying 


I 


THE    JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER.  163 

to  his  standard  that  are  not  altogether  groundless.  It  is 
said,  that  Samson  was  not  really  a  fit  leader,  because  his 
intellect  was  weak  and  his  character  sadly  inconsistent. 
Though  of  gigantic  physical  strength,  his  character  was  not 
well  balanced.  But  was  his  intellect  weak  in  the  inverse 
ratio  th!iiFTn£~Fodywas  strong  ?  Now  even  if  we  admit  that 
such  is  the  ordinary  law  of  mankind,  it  does  not  follow  that 
it  must  have  been  true  in  his  case.  For,  as  has  already  been 
remarked,  Samson  does  not  appear  to  have  been  of  gigantic 
stature,  nor  to  have  had  gigantic  strength,  except  when  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  moved  him.  That  he  was  naturally  strong 
ind  of  powerful  muscle,  we  admit  j  but  his  great  strength 
was  miraculous.  It  could  not  therefore  have  impaired  his 
mind  on  the  principle  suggested  above.  It  is  true  that 
great  physical  powers  are  sometimes  possessed  by  those  who 
have  but  little  mental  energy,  and  less  moral  character;  but 
has  any  law  of  nature  been  discovered  making  a  large  man  ?£' 
or  a  strong  man  a  bad  man  ?  If  a  strong  body  must  be  the  \- 
dwelling  of  a  weak  inind,  we  have  been  erroneously  taught  / 
— that  the  perfect  man  is  a  sound  rnind  in  a  sound  body.  / 
We  admit  that  Samson's  mental  energy  and  moral  sense 
strike  us  as  dwarfish  in  comparison  with  his  great  bodily 
strength.  Not  to  such  a  degree,  however,  as  to  excuse  the 
men  of  Judah  for  not  trusting  in  him  as  God's  agent. 
Though  a  strong  man,  Samson  was  not  a  truly  great  man. 
Speaking  from  pur  starting  point  of  his  history,  we  should 
say  his  attacks  upon  the  Philistines  were  badly  planned,  and 
the  results  wholly  insignificant.  He  was  a  man  sadly  want- 
ing in  self-control,  mental  discipline,  and  refinement  of  con- 
science. His  two  great  passions  were  love  and  revenge,  and 
both  always  directed  towards  the  same  people,  and  both 
badly  managed.  He  seems  to  have  done  nothing  towards 
the  accomplishment  of  his  great  mission,  except  when  under 
some  supernatural  impulse.  The  victories  of  Barak,  Gideon 


164  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

s 

and  Jephthah  near  his  own  time,  were  of  more  enduring  bril- 
liancy and  effect.  The  fact  is  Samson  was  not  the  man 
he  ought  to  have  been.  He  suffered  his  sensuality  to  mar 
his  otherwise  greatness  of  character.  His  own  countrymen 
did  not  rally  to  his  standard.  They  had  not  confidence  in 
him.  His  character -was  so  spasmodic,  lie  acted  so  by  fits 
and  starts,  that  they  distrusted  his  prudence.  And  are 
they  much  to  be  blamed  for  withholding  their  confidence 
from  a  man  who  was  so  often  the  stave  of  his  own  senses  ? 
A  pretty  face  or  a  few  tears  were  quite  enough  to  unman 
him.  He  was  a  teetotaler  in  one  way,  but  very  intemperate 
in  another.  If  wine  did  not  ruin  him,  women  did.  The 
elders  of  Judah  and  the  warriors  of  his  own  tribe  might 
then  well  hesitate  to  risk  their  fortunes  and  lives  under  the 
command  of  one,  who  could  repeatedly  sacrifice  the  most 
important  interests  to  a  woman's  sighs,  and  reveal  his  holy 
secret  at  the  importunities  of  a  paramour. 

The  utter  worthlessness  of  the  two  new  cords  is  very 
strongly  expressed  in  the  original.  "  His  bands  loosed ;" 
that  is,  melted  from  his  hands.  "  They  became  as  flax  that 
Was  burnt  with  fire.' ^  That  is,  they  were  like  flaxen  ropes 
burnt,  still  retaining  their  coil  and  shape,  but  without 
strength;  mere  cinders  which,  as  soon  as  touched,  fall  to 
pieces.  So  worthless  were  the  two  new  cords  with  which 
they  bound  Samson  fast,  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came 
mightily  upon  him. 

Listen  now  to  the  savage  yells  of  the  Philistine  hosts,  as 
they  saw  the  great  Hebrew  bound  and  coming  to  them  from 
the  rack  from  which  they  were  not  able  to  fetch  him.  But 
their  shout  was  his  signal  for  action.  Rending  the  new  cords 
as  burnt  flax,  "  he  found  a  new  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  and  put 
forth  his  hand  and  took  it,  and  slew  a  thousand  men  there- 
with." The  new  of  the  text  is  applied  by  some  not  to  the 
jaw-bone,  but  to  the  carcass,  and  rendered  tabid  or  putrid- 


THE   JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER.  165 

If  so,  then  the  idea  is,  that  the  body  being  in  a  putrid  state, 
he  could  the  more  easily  separate  the  bone  from  the  integu- 
ments, and  thus  procure  such  a  bone  as  would  be  most  fit 
for  execution.  But  if  the  term  new  is  applied  to  the  body, 
it  is  also  true  of  the  jaw-bone,  and  its  being  new  was  of  im- 
portance, for  it  was  therefore  heavy  and  tough.  It  would 
bear  harder  blows  without  breaking.  And  never  was  there 
a  more  terrible  weapon  than  this  jaw-bone  in  Samson's 
hand.  Never  did  an  ass's  jaw-bone  do  such -service  since 
the  foundation  of  the  world. 

The  sixteenth  verse  is  Samson's  pean,  or  hymn  of 
triumph.  Though  rather  a  silent  man,  and  heretofore  as 
modest  as  brave,  there  is  nothing  censurable  in  his  singing 
after  the  manner  of  his  times  a  stanza,  in  commemoration 
of  his  own  exploits. 

"With  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  heaps  upon  heaps, 
With  the  jaw  of  an  ass  have  I  slain  a  thousand  men." 

The  beauty  and  force  of  this  verse  can  hardly  be  appre- 
ciated without  a  knowledge  of  the  original,  where  we  have 
a  paranomasia  on  the  identity  of  the  terms  for  ass  and  a 
heap.  The  point  seems  to  be  in  Samson's  saying,  that  the 
Philistines  fell  under  his  blows  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an 
ass,  as  tamely  as  if  they  themselves  had  been  stupid  asses — 
"  heaps  upon  heaps." 

"  A  thousand  "  here  is  not  necessarily  to  be  understood 
as  a  definite  number,  but  denoting  a  great  many.  The 
young  women,  in  singing  David's  praises  when  he  came  as 
fc  the  conquering  hero  "  from  the  killing  of  Goliah,  said,  he 
hath  slain  his  f(  tens  of  thousands,"  when  in  fact  He  had 
killed  but  one  person.  He  was,  it  is  true,  a  giant,  who  was 
worth  ten  thousand  common  Philistines.  To  have  slain  so 
many  with  a  Damascus  blade  would  have  been  a  prodigious 
feat;  what  then  shall  we  say  of  its  being  done  \vith  the 


166  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

jaw-bone  of  an  ass?  No  doubt,  fear  helped  him.  The 
Philistines  seeing  Samson's  cords  broken,  remembering 
what  he  had  done  at  Askelon,  and  struck  with  terror  at  the 
tremendous  execution  of  his  giant  arm,  and  expecting  that 
now  all  the  armed  thousands  of  Judah  would  join  him, 
and  that  they  would  all  be  dead  men,  fled,  and  in  their 
disorderly  flight  many  of  them  were  killed.  The  victory, 
however,  was  not  in  the  weapon,  nor  in  Samson's  arm,  nor 
because  of  the  Philistines'  terror.  It  was  God  tl&t  nerved 
his  heart  and  strengthened  his  arm.  The  armed  men  of 
Judah  could  have  furnished  Samson  with  a  sword;  but 
greater  contempt  was  cast  upon  these  idolators  by  laying 
them  "  heaps  upon  heaps"  with  a  jaw-bone. 

"  And  called  that  place  Kamath-Lehi."  Twice  before  it 
is  called  Lehi  by  anticipation.  Lehi  was  used  for  brevity's 
sake.  Such  contractions  were  common  with  Hebrew  proper 
names.  Jerusalem  was  called  also  Salem.  E-amath-Lehi 
means  "  the  hill  of  the  jaw-bone,"  or  "  the  casting  away 
of  the  jaw-bone."  For  here  he  cast  away  the  jaw-bone  out 
of  his  hand.  Samson  was  not  a  .good  collector  of  relics. 
That  jaw-bone  would  be  a  fortune  in  our  day. 

The  excessive  thirst  of  which  he  expected  to  die,  or  to 
be  obliged  to  surrender  to  the  Philistines,  was  the  natural 
consequence  of  excessive  fatigue.  Josephus  thinks  this 
dreadful  thirst  was  brought  on  him  for  his  pride,  in  not 
acknowledging  God  in  his  triumphal  song.  "  Heaps  upon 
heaps,  I  have  slain  a  thousand  men,"  said  he  ;  but  not  a 
word  of  praise  to  Jehovah  for  helping  him.  God  was  not 
recognized  in  the  affair  at  all.  Like  Nebuchadnezze1r^"say^ 
ing,  "  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  ?"  And 
the  judgment  of  God  fell  on  him  from  heaven  till  he  was 
humbled  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  Most  High. 
Whether  this  is  the  proper  explanation  of  Samson's  thii 


d* 


*N; 


THE   JAW-BONE    SLAUGHTER.  167 

or  not,  pride  is  a  great  sin,  and  high  looks  are  an  abomina- 
tion to  the  Lord. 

"  But  God  clave  a  hollow  place  that  was  in  the  jaw-bone, 
and  there  came  water  thereout."  Here  is  an  error  in  our 
translation.  The-  fountain  of  water  was  not  in  the  jaw- 
bone. The  mistake  of  our  translators,  who  are  generally  so 
correct,  was  doubtless  made  in  this  way  :  The  same  Hebrew 
word  is  ren-dered  both  Lehi,  a  proper  name,  and  also  jaw- 
bone. Tne  mistake  therefore  was  in  confounding  the  name 
of  the  place  for  the  instrument  of  the  victory  from  which 
the  place  derived  its  name.  The  meaning  is,  God  clave 
a  hollow  place  of  the  rock  or  earth  at  Lehi,  and  a  fountain 
gushed  forth  and  continued  to  flow  up  to  the  time  of  the 
writing  of  the  history.  And  in  memory  of  the  deliverance, 
the  fountain  was  called  En-hak-kore,  that  is,  "  the  well  of 
him  that  cried  ;"  "  Invocation  well."  Tradition  still  points 
out  the  stream  that  gushed  from  the  grotto  of  Lehi  for  the 
refreshing  of  the  Hebrew  warrior. 

We  close  this  chapter  with  a  lesson  from  the  shouting  of 
the  Philistines  on  the  eve  of  their  terrible  slaughter. 
Their  defiant  shout  was  the  knell  of  their  complete  over- 
throw. And  it  is  still  true  that  "  a  dreadful  sound  is  in 
the  ears"  of  the  wicked:  "in  prosperity  the  destroyer 
shall  come  upon  him."  Job  xv.  21.  The  triumphing  of 
the  ungodly  is  short.  Their  prosperity  is  their  destruction. 
Had  there  been  as  many  devils  as  there  were  Philis- 
tines, when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon  Samson,  he 
would^have  turned  their  shoutings  into  wailings  quite  as 
easily.  Never  are  the  ungodly  more  to  be  pitied  than 
when  their  prospects  seem  to  be  the  brightest.  Their 
fancied  security  is  their  ruin.  We  are  told  that  more  ves- 
sels are  lost  in  a  fair  gale  than  in  tempests.  Nothing  is  so 
much  to  be  feared  as  a  sinner's  apparent  peace.  Present 
impunity  does  not  argue  the  abatement  of  the  divine  wrath. 


168  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

The  delays  of  providence  do  not  change  the  nature  of  sin. 
Ittremains  intrinsically  the  abominable  thing  that  God  hates. 
In  the  very  nature  of  things  it  is  impossible  that  sin  should 
any  where  or  at  any  time  meet  with  his  approbation.  The 
patience  of  God  does  not  therefore  imply  any  mitigation  of 
the  enormity  of  wrong-doing.  It  is  no  proof  of  divine  in- 
difference to  sin,  that  God  does  not  instantly  express  his 
abhorrence  of  it,  and  pour  out  his  wrath  upon  the  offender. 
Men  may  kindle  immediately  into  a  transport  or  passion 
when  insulted-;  but  God  is  not  a  man,  and  therefore  we  are 
not  consumed.  He  punishes  sin,  not  from  passion,  but  from 
principle — not  to  avenge  himself  for  any  injury  he  sustains 
from  sin,  but  in  order  to  maintain  a  righteous  govern- 
ment : — such  a  government  as  is  necessary  for  the  happi- 
ness of  his  creatures.  Such  an  administration  is  also 
agreeable  to  his  infinite  holiness.  And  the  punishment 
of  sin  will  only  be  the  more  severe,  because  of  the 
aggravations  of  abused  mercy.  Delay  in  a  human  gov- 
ernment may  lessen  the  certainty  of  punishment,  by 
leaving  room  for  escape,  or  for  the  loss  of  opportunity  or 
ability  for  inflicting  the  punishment;  but  it  is  never  so 
with  God.  "  One  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day/7  There  is,  then, 
no  statute  of  limitation  within  which  process  against  the 
sinner  must  begin,  or  within  which  his  cause  must  be  tried 
and  the  sentence  executed.  Nay,  though  the  final  sentence 
against  an  evil  work  is  sometimes  delayed,  and  therefore 
the  hearts  of  men  are  more  fully  set  to  evil,  still  the  accusa- 
tion begins  in  most  cases  immediately.  Conscience  speaks 
out.  Violated  laws  plead  against  the  transgressor,  and  his 
ways  are  found  to  be  hard.  Evil  doing  is  itself  a  judgment. 
And  the  delay  to  execute  the  sentence  against  evil  doing  is 
sometimes  a  part  of  the  sentence.  The  delay,  if  not  im- 
proved, is  not  a  blessing.  As  in  divine  mercies,  the  rule  is 


THE  JAW-BONE   SLAUGHTER.  169 

"  grace  upon  grace,"  one  favour  received  thankfully,  draw- 
ing another ;  so  it  is  with  punishments  ;  if  not  improved — 
one  stroke  draws  down  another.  It  were  often  a  great 
mercy  to  arrest  the  guilty  in  their  career  of  crime.  There 
is  something  awful  in  being  given  over  to  blindness  of  mind 
and  hardness  of  heart,  to  treasure  up  wrath  against  the  day 
of  wrath,  by  abusing  the  long-suffering,  and  patience,  and 
goodness  of  God.  The  men  of  Judah  were  restrained  from 
laying  tneir  hands  upon  Samson.  And  the  Philistines,  in 
shouting  for  joy  at  his  surrender,  were  not  able  to  touch 
him.  Wicked  men  are  often  not  so  bad  as  they  would  be, 
if  they  were  not  restrained.  They  are  not  more  cruel,  sim- 
ply because  they  cannot  be.  Even  in  Samson's  forbearance 
towards  his  own  countrymen,  there  was  a  divine  hand.  He 
was  sent  against  the  Philistines,  and  would  not  therefore 
touch  his  spiritless  countrymen.  Oh  that  men  would  remem- 
ber that  a  thing  is  not  good  simply  because  it  seems  to 
prosper,  but  because  it  is  according  to  the  will  of  God ! 
That  only  is  right  which  God  commands.  Sin  is  evil,  not 
because  it  is  punished,  but  because  it  is  disobedience — it  is 
something  forbidden.  Any  delay,  therefore,  of  sentence 
against  evil  doers,  instead  of  encouraging, them  to  continue 
in  sin,  should  melt  them  to  penitential  sorrow.  Instead  of 
lulling  them  into  security,  it  ought  to  alarm  them.  Nothing 
but  pardon  secures  their  safety.  No  length  of  time,  nor 
flight,  nor  distance  from  the  place  of  sinning  can  give  any 
true  relief.  Nothing  but  pardon  can  save  the  sinner.  He 
must  be  forgiven,  or  sink  to  endless  perdition.  But  there 
is  forgiveness  with  God,  that  he  may  be  feared.  He  that 

confesseth  and  forsaketh  his  sins  shall  find  mercy. 
15 


ITO 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM. 

"  But  what  availed  this  temperance,  not  complete, 

Against  another  object  more  enticing  ? 

What  boots  it  at  one  gate  to  make  defence, 

And  at  another  to  let  in  the  foe  ? — Samson  Agonistes. 

IN  the  first  three  verses  of  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Judges, 
we  have  a  brief  account  of  Samson's  visit  to  G-aza,  and  of 
what  befel  him  there.  "Then  went  Samson  to  Gaza,"  a 
city  about  sixty  miles  southwest  from  Jerusalem,  and  only 
a  few  miles  from  Askelon.  It  was  one  of  the  oldest  cities 
in  the  world,  and  is  always  represented  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  a  place  pf  considerable  importance.  It  was  once  a 
city  of  great  wealth.  The  present  town  is  beautifully  situ- 
ated on  a  hill,  amidst  gardens  of  olive  and  date  trees.  The 
houses  are  mostly  of  stone,  but  its  inhabitants  are  poor.  Its 
chief  articles  of  trade  are  cotton  and  soap. 

The  Hebrew  term  zonah,  and  its  corresponding  one  in 
Greek,  porne,  which  is  applied  to  the  woman  of  Gaza,  is  a 
word  of  uncertain  signification.  Our  word  harlot  is  not  a 
word  of  doubtful  meaning,  but  the  Hebrew  zonah  is  not 
always  its  equivalent.  There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of 
Rahab  that  renders  it  probable  that  she  was  a  woman  of 
bad  reputation.  She  entertained  the  Hebrew  spies,  and 
afterwards  became  the  wife  of  the  Hebrew  prince  Salmon. 


THE   DREADFUL   RELAPSE   FROM   ETAM.       *     171 

Matt.  i.  5.  She  was  an  innkeeper.  If  the  term  zonah, 
then,  was  ever  applied  to  her  in  a  bad  sense,  it  must  have 
belonged  to  a  previous  period  of  her  life,  for  there  is  no  evi- 
dence, nor  any  probability  that  she  was  an  abandoned  woman 
at  the  time  the  Hebrew  spies  entered  Jericho.  Naturally, 
as  strangers,  and  on  a  mission  of  so  much  peril  and  import- 
ance, they  would  seek  a  house  of  private  entertainment, 
such  as  Rahab  kept.  The  Chaldee  calls  t  h<e_jrojiaii-4ha_t^>  ^ 
Samson  lodged  with  an  innkeeperr^ScBleusner  says  the 
word  may  mean  one  that  prepares  and  sells  food,  and  receives 
strangers  to  entertain  them.  It  must  be  remembered, 
however,  that  in  those  times  female  innkeepers  trafficked  with 
their  personal  charms  at  the  same  time  that  they  entertained 
travellers.  In  view  of  all  the  authorities  within  my  reach,  I  con- 
clude our  translators  are  correct  ;  and  consequently  this  woman 
was  not  Samson's  wife,  and  his  conduct  at  Gaza  is  a  most 
painful  specimen  of  imperfect  morality,  and  full  of  warning. 
Truly  there  is  no  man  so  deep  but  he  has  some  shallow 
place. 

The  previous  chapter  is  full  of  adventure,  but  the  vicis- 
situdes  of  our  hero  are  by  no  means  ended,  though  it  is 
twenty  years  since  his  victory  with  the  jaw-bone,  and  his 
deliverance  from  dying  of  thirst  at  Lehij  still  we  find  trou- 
ble following  trouble,  and  no  wisdom  gleaned  from  the  past. 
His  last  years  do  not  bear  scrutiny  as  well  as  his  earlier  ones. 
Considering  his  mission,  and  his  relation  to  the  Philistines, 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  his  motives  for  going  into  one 
of  their  principal  cities.  It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that 
his  meeting  with  the  Gazite  woman  was  anything  more  than 
accidental;  To  see  her  could  not  have  been  the  main  pur- 
pose for  which  he  went  to  Gaza.  As  he  must  have  been 
well  known,  it  is  passing  strange  that  he  should  have  trusted 
himself  in  one  of  their  strongholds,  and  then  should  have 
behaved  so  imprudently.  How  could  one  of  his  stalwart 


172      ^  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

frame — whose  name  was  a  raw-head-and-bloody-bones  in 
all  the  village  stories  of  Philistia — and  of  Nazarite  hair  and 
beard,  have  expected  to  escape  notice  ?  It  was  scarcely 
necessary  for  any  one  from  Askelon  or  Timnath  to  have 
pointed  him  out.  At  all  events,  it  was  soon  known  in  Gaza 
that  Samson  was  come;  and,  either  because  they  did  not 
know  just  where  to  find  him,  or  being  afraid  to  seize  him 
at  once,  they  set  sentinels  at  the  gates.  They  now  felt  sure 
that  they  had  caged  the  lion,  and  Samson,  though  not  where 
he  should  have  been,  was  not  insensible  to  danger.  Aroused 
at  midnight,  and  suspecting  what  was  intended,  he  proceeds 
straight  to  the  gates,  and  carries  away  the  doors  and  posts 
upon  his  shoulders.  The  guards  were  either  terror  smitten, 
and  not  able  to  face  him,  or  were  asleep.  They  made  no 
resistance,  and  he  seems  to  have  had  too  much  contempt  for 
the  gate  to  kick  it  down,  or  too  much  refinement,  for  he  lifts 
it  off  by  mere  force,  and  lays  it  on  his  shoulders,  and  car- 
ries it  away  to  the  top  of  a  hill  towards  Hebron.  The  doors 
of  Bible  lauds  are  not  sttaped  into  an  arch,  nor  fitted  into 
the  wall  or  facing  as  with  us.  They  had  not  our  hinges. 
The  door  fell  into  sockets  below,  and  was  fastened  in  a  pro- 
jecting bracket  above.  Such  were  the  doors  of  Egypt  and 
of  the  Holy  Land.  The  sepulchres  of  the  Nile  and  of  Jeru- 
salem are  proof;  and  a  knowledge  of  this  fact  explains  the 
anxious  inquiry  of  the  devout  women  coming  to  our  Lord's 
tomb,  "  Who  shall  roll  us  away  the  stone  ?"  That  is,  lift 
it  out  of  the  groove  or  socket. .  The  great  difficulty  in  open- 
ing such  doors  was  their  weight.  Samson's  strength  must, 
therefore,  have  been  prodigious ;  since,  according  to  the  text, 
he  lifted  the  heavy  town  gate,  bars,  brackets,  beams,  posts, 
and  all,  and  carried  them  to  the  top  of  a  distant  hill.  The 
text  does  not  mean  that  he  carried  the  city  gate  all  the  way 
to  Hebron,  which  was  at  least  twenty  miles  from  Gaza  ;  lit- 


THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM.  ,    173 

erally,  "  to  the  top  of  a  hill  which  looketh  towards  Hebron;" 
but  we  cannot  now  identify  it. 

These  brief  historical  notes  are  perhaps  sufficient  to  ex 
plain  the  text.  Let  us,  then,  pause  with  two  historical 
periods  before  us,  and  review  our  story  from  the  top  of  the 
rock  Etam,  and  from  the  top  of  the  hill  towards  Hebron, 
where  Samson  put  down  the  gate  of  Gaza.  These  two  his- 
toric points  comprehend  twenty  years  of  his  life,  and  a  re- 
view of  them  is  a  fearful  warning  to  all  fitful  professors  of 
religion,  and  to  all  backsliders.  Here  we  see  a  character 
great  and  marvellous  for  supernatural  exploits,  spoiled,  through 
a  spiritual  relapse,  and  by  inconsistencies.  Remarkable  as 
is  the  heroic  age  of  Israel's  judges,  Samson  is  certainly  the 
most  remarkable  of  them  all.  And  after  all  we  scarcely  get 
a  clear  view  of  his  inner  life.  So  thick  and  heavy  are  the 
clouds  that  hang  over  him,  that  if  an  apostle  had  not  given 
him  a  place  among  spiritual  heroes,  we  should  have  despaired 
of  him  altogether.  It  is  true,  however,  and  in  this  there 
is  hope,  that,  amid  all  his  fearful  backslidings,  he  never 
seems  to  have  forgotten  his  commission  against  the  Philis- 
tines. His  conscience  was  kept  faithful  to  this  behest  by 
his  own  passionate  hatred  of  them.  But  this  is  only  another 
proof  of  God's  sovereignty,  which  maketh  the  wrath  of  man 
to  praise  him,  even  as  the  appetite  and  relish  for  our  food 
proves  his  wisdom  and  benevolence.  It  was  not  enough  to 
make  food  nourish  us  ;  God  has  made  it  agreeable  to  us. 
So  he  is  pleased  to  make  our  duty  and  our  interest  in  the 
long  run  lie  in  the  same  line.  Duty  is  pleasure. 

While  Samson  dwelt  in  Etam,  I  take  it  there  was  a  revi- 
val of  grace  in  his  soul.  If  so,  it  was  a  most  critical  -;md 
deeply  interesting  period  in  his  life.  Suppose  we  climb  up 
to  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  from  his  retreat  look  back  to  the 
home  of  his  innocent  youth  at  Zorah,  and  inquire  how  his 

mother  takes  all  these  things.     Ah,  his  mother  !  is  she  yet 
15* 


174  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

alive?  Then  how  many  conflicting  fears  and  hopes  must 
have  filled  her  mind  !  Mysterious  and  wholly  inexplicable 
events  have  marked  her  son's  life.  She  remembers  well  the 
angel's  bright  appearance,  and  how  he  rode  up  towards 
heaven  on  the  smoke  of  their  accepted  sacrifice,  as  if  it 
had  been  a  chariot — and  how  earnestly  she  had  been  com- 
manded to  demean  herself,  and  to  bring  up  the  child  as  one 
pre-eminently  consecrated  to  God,  and  to  be  a  deliverer  of 
the  chosen  people.  She  thinks  over  and  over  his  strange 
fancy  for  the  woman  of  Timnath,  and  how  it  was  not  at  all 
agreeable  to  her  and  her  husband,  that  he  should  marry  a 
Philistine,  but  that  they  submitted,  hoping  it  was  of  the 
Lord.  She  is  now,  too,  acquainted  with  the  lion  adventure, 
the  bees,  and  the  honey.  She  recollects  the  wedding  cere- 
monies, feasting,  and  riddles,  the  divorce,  and  the  terrible 
tragedies  at  Askelon  and  at  Timnath.  She  wonders  how 
all  this  is  to  fulfil  his  mission.  She  hopes,  as  only  a  parent 
can  hope ;  a  thousand  times  does  she  think  over  the  past,  and 
try  to  read  the  future ;  a  thousand  times  does  she  interro- 
gate herself,  saying,  Can  this  be  my  Nazarite  boy?  Are 
these  things  realities,  or  visions  and  dreams  ?  Where  are 
they  all  to  end  ?  When  will  the  mystery  be  explained  ? 
Oh,  how  I  loved  that  child  !  What  great  hopes  I  enter- 
tained of  him  !  If  she  had  not  been  a  mother  of  faith  and 
principle  equal  to  her  comprehension  and  penetration  of 
judgment,  she  could  not  have  sustained  herself  under  such 
trials. 

But  what  of  the  hero  himself?  Think  you  he  retired  in 
disgust  from  the  hip  and  thigh  slaughter  ?  Or  did  he  dwell 
in  the  top  of  the  rock  Etam  for  safety  ?  Or  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  lion,  having  torn  as  many  struggling  victims  as 
he  could,  did  he  leave  them  mangled  and  dying,  and  seek 
this  solitary  abode  to  gloat  over  his  satisfied  revenge  ?  Or 
did  he  go  up  to  Etam  sulky  and  proud,  like  Achilles  to  his 


THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM.      175 

tent  on  the  JEgean  shore  ?  Or  like  a  wild  Bedouin  or 
Camanche,  having  revenged  his  wrongs,  does  he  seek  his 
mountain  home,  to  scowl  defiance  upon  his  pursuers  from 
his  impregnable  fortress  ?  There  may  have  been  a  ming- 
ling of  some  of  these  feelings  in  his  breast,  when  he  went 
up  to  Etam ;  but  I  think  his  purpose  was  to  escape  for  a 
time  from  all  worldly  excitements.  He  was  weary  of  the 
battle.  He  felt  his  life  to  be  a  mystery.  He  was  aston- 
ished both  at  his  successes  and  his  shortcomings.  He  saw 
the  mighty  power  of  God  in  his  victories,  and  his  goodness 
in  his  own  deliverance.  He  wished,  therefore,  for  a  shel- 
tered place — for  a  quiet  and  safe  retreat  for  prayer  and 
meditation.  Impetuous  as  he  was — tumultuous  as  his  life 
had  been — he  was  not  thoughtless.  He  has  not  wholly 
escaped  from  the  influence  of  his  mother's  early  lessons, 
and  his  father's  fervent  prayers.  He  still  feels  that  Nazarite 
vows  are  upon  him,  and  though  painfully  conscious  of  many 
sad  failures  in  duty,  he  has  still  a  deep  yearning  of  soul 
toward  God,  and  an  earnest  desire  to  fulfil  his  mission,  so 
as  to  secure  the  divine  approbation.  There  is  with  him 
still  space  for  repentance,  and  for  renewing  of  his  vows. 
In  his  retirement,  conscious  of  his  many  failures,  restless 
thoughts,  "  like  a  deadly  swarm  of  hornets  armed,"  must 
have  often  rushed  upon  him.  Piety,  patriotism,  and  per- 
sonal feelings  were  all  working  together  in  him  to  fulfil  his 
mission.  For  we  must  not  suppose  that  God's  Spirit  is 
easily  discouraged,  and  departs  wholly  from  a  man  when  he 
falls  once,  or  even  several  times,  into  sin.  There  is,  indeed, 
a  sin  unto  death,  a  sin  for  which  no  prayer  or  sacrifice  can 
avail,  for  which  there  is  no  forgiveness.  There  is  a  point 
of  rebellion  beyond  which  no  pardon  can  be  extended. 
God's  Spirit  does  sometimes  cease  to  strive  with  men. 
Ephraim  may  be  left  to  his  idols,  because  he  would  not 
leave  them.  Men  may  quench  and  grieve  nwny  the  Spirit 


176  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

of  God  by  which  they  might  be  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemp- 
tion. But  the  general  rule  is,  that  God's  long-suffering  is 
as.  apparent  as  his  sovereignty.  He  bears  long  with  the 
children  of  men.  The  Holy  Spirit  does  not  abandon  the 
sinner  for  a  slight  offence;  and  sometimes  we  see  a  spiritual 
resurrection  after  many  long  years  of  apparent  death.  The 
good  seed  sown  lies  long  under  the  cold  snows  that  have 
fallen  from  the  mountains,  but  it  has  not  perished.  Wordly 
entanglements  and  passions  have  bound  it  up  like  the  pitched 
mummy  cloths  of  Egypt;  but  the  seed  still  has  the  living 
germ  within  it ;  and  at  last  it  springs  up  in  the  soul,  and 
blooms  into  eternal  life,  it  may  be,-  long  after  the  careful 
parent  that  sowed  it  in  faith,  and  watered  it  with  many 
tears,  has  entered  into  rest.  Sometimes,  also,  we  see  the 
piety  of  youth  reviving,  and  again  budding,  after  it  has 
seemed  to  have  suffered  a  grievous  blight,  and  even  to  have 
been  uprooted  for  ever. 

Dear  parent,  after  all  the  frustration  of  your  hopes — 
after  repeated  disappointments,  hope  on — never  despair — the 
root  to  this  very  hour  that  you  have  planted  and  watered, 
though  it  be  long  in  sprouting,  may  continue  alive;  and  yet, 
"  through  the  scent  of  water  it  may  bud." 

We  shall  do  well,  also,  to  remember  that  it  is  not  without 
affliction  that  youthful  piety  is  generally  recovered  after  a 
relapse.  The  forcing*  heat  of  a  furnace  may  be  required, 
after  years  of  decline,  to  make  the  tree  "sprout  again  and 
send  forth  its  boughs  as  a  plant  "  It  is  not  the  mere  scent 
of  water,  nor  the  ordinary  shower,  nor  the  ordinary  gleams 
of  sunshine,  that  can  revive  the  plant  and  make  it  live  in 
freshness.  It  is  often  only  the  furnace  of  affliction  that 
can  bring  us  back  from  backslidings. 

I  apprehend  Samson's  experience  of  grace  was  not  mirac- 
ulous. Believers  in  all  ages  are  liable  to  temptations  and 
relapses.  None  of  them  are  saints  upon  earth.  The  repre- 


THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM.      177 

sentative  or  official  character  of  the  judges,  prophets,  and 
apostles  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  their  personal  piety; 
and  consequently,  their  experience  as  believers  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  fair  ensample  for  us — their  experience  of  the 
grace  of  God — their  penitence  and  faith — their  hopes  and 
trials — are  to  be  considered  as  if  they  were  merely  believers, 
and  apart  from  their  official  characters.  David  and  Paul,  as 
individuals,  believed  and  repented,  and  were  subject  to  like 
conflicts  with  ourselves.  The  same  is  true  of  Moses  and 
Samson.  When  Moses  killed  the  Egyptian,  he  fled  to  the 
wilderness.  An  undefined  future  lay  before  him.  He  fol- 
lowed his  natural  feelings,  but  was  most  graciously  guided. 
There,  in  "  meditative  solitudes,"  he  communed  with  God, 
and  pondered  over  the  condition  of  his  countrymen,  until 
the  hour  came  for  him  to  be  commissioned  to  deliver  them. 
And  Samson  in  like  manner,  not  finding  his  countrymen 
sympathizing  with  him — finding  that  they  did  not  rally 
around  him,  and  say,  Lead  us  against  the  Philistines ;  the 
Lord  is  with  you ;  he  has  raised  you  up  to  be  a  judge  in 
Israel,  and  an  avenger  of  his  people — finding  that  they 
were  so  degraded  that  they  would  not  second  his  efforts 
for  their  deliverance,  and  somewhat,  no  doubt,  with  the 
same  kind  of  feelings  that  Moses  had,  when  he  broke  the 
tables  of  the  law — he  betook  himself  to  retirement  in  the 
rock  Etam. 

I  therefore  conclude  that  "  then,"  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  chapter,  does  not  mean  that  he  went  to  Gaza,  and 
made  himself  vile  immediately  after  the  great  deliverance 
God  had  wrought  for  him  at  Lehi.  Surely  a  considerable 
time  must  have  elapsed  after  such  an  experience  of  God's 
goodness,  before  he  could  have  fallen  into  such  a  quagmire. 
"  Then"  here  seems  to  indicate  that  at  or  near  to  the  end 
of  his  administration  of  twenty  years,  he  went  to  Gaza,  and 
soon  after  to  Sorek.  His  exploit  at  Lehi  awed  the  Philis- 


178  THE   GUANT  JUDGE. 

tines  so  that  for  some  twenty  years  they  were  comparatively 
quiet.  The  time  that  intervened  between  Samson  at  Lehi 
and  Samson  fallen  at  Gaza,  adds  to  his  guilt,  for  he  must 
now  have  been  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  of  a  varied 
experience,  and  should  have  been  more  on  his  guard  than 
to  have  fallen  into  the  .toils  of  the  Gazite  woman.  In  his 
fall,  we  see  that  besetting  sins  are  deceitful  and  die  hardly. 
They  have  many  lives.  When  we  are  ready  to  suppose  them 
dead,  a  slight  occurrence  may  awaken  them  to  a  vigorous 
life.  In  our  narrative  there  is  an  ominous  silence  as  to  how 
Samson  was  employed  'for  almost  twenty  years.  All  this 
time  he  did  nothing.  It  is  no  wonder  then  that  his  inner 
man  has  fallen  into  consumption.  And  as  is  always  the  case, 
in  the  proportion  that  his  spiritual  life  grew  weaker  and 
weaker,  his  sensual  grew  stronger  and  stronger,  until  his 
constitutionally  besetting  lust  broke  forth  again,  as  a  fire 
that  has  only  been  smouldering,  when  it  was  supposed  to 
have  been  extinguished.  There  is  no  truce  in  the  war  be- 
tween the  flesh  and  the  spirit.  The  one  or  the  other  is  pre- 
vailing. If  the  house  of  David  waxes  stronger,  then  the 
house  of  Saul  grows  weaker.  And  the  reverse  is  just  as 
true.  Samson's  inner  life  is  no  doubt  the  exact  type  of 
thousands  now.  Many  suppose  when  they  have  experienced 
some  special  deliverances  as  Samson  did  at  Lehi,  and 
have  had  some  evidence  of  the  grace  of  God,  that  their 
besetting  sins  are  overcome ;  when  in  fact,  they  have  only 
retired,  and  are  waiting  in  a.mbush  just  beyond  gun  shot, 
till  an  opportunity  is  presented  for  them  to  return  and  take 
the  fort  by  storm,  as  Samson's  did  with  him  at  Gaza.  It 
were  well  to  learn,  from  Samson's  sad  experience,  to  be  on 
our  guard  against  besetting  sins,  especially  of  the  grosser 
kind.  And  there  is  the  more  need  for  watchfulness  against 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  because  they  are  favoured  in  their 


THE  DREADFUL  RELAPSE  FROM  ETAM.      179 

approaches  to  the  citadel  of  the  heart  and  conscience  by 
many  less  constitutional  sins,  or  sins  less  suspected  of  being 
so  flagrant  and  vile,  which,  however,  when  indulged  pre- 
pare the  way  for  their  return,  and  for  their  violent  onset. 
In  the  presence  of  professed  friends,  the  excitement  of 
good  feeling,  your  own  self-confidence,  a  sense  of  security, 
and  obscuration  of  divine  holiness,  a  faint  view  of  God's 
law,  and  the  strong  pleadings  of  nature  within — then  is 
the  moment  when  constitutional  sinful  propensities  arouse 
themselves  with  a  fearfully  increased  fierceness.  And  it  is 
just  in  this  manner,  and  by  such  slow  approaches,  and  by  such 
carefully  prepared  intrenchments,  the  heart  is  taken.  Let 
all  who  fancy  themselves  secure,  remember  the  dreadful 
warning  of  Peter — that  "  if,  after  having  escaped  the  pol- 
lutions of  the 'World,  through  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein 
and  overcome,  the  latter  end  is  worse  with  them  than  the 
beginning." 

The  triumphing  of  Samson's  baser  passions  at  Gaza  and! 
Sorek  were  most  certainly  preceded  by 
sumptive  state  of  his  religious  character, 
almost  withered  away  before  he  went 

always  thus.  One  sin  leads  the  way  to  another.  A  decay 
of  spiritual  life  allows  greater  liberty  to  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh.  Indolence,  gluttony,  worldliness,'  drunkenness,  and 
the  pampering  of  any  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  are  all  of 
kin.  They  are  links  in  the  same  hellward  dragging  chain. 
The  entanglement  is  not  perfected  all  at  once.  Absence 
from  the  prayer  meeting  follows  the  neglect  of  closet  prayer. 
And  a  growing  neglect  of  divine  worship  is  followed  by  a 
want  of  relish  for  God's  word,  and  by  a  listlessness  or  want 
of  interest  in  religious  matters,  and  by  a  greater  degree  of 
pleasure  in  worldly  things ;  and  now  the  way  is  fully  pre- 


passions  at  (iaza  ana 
by  a  decaying,   con-x>^4) 
cter.     His  piety  had       jfe 
to  Gaza.     And  it  is        C 


180 


THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 


pared  for  carnal  nature  to  rise  in  rebellion,  and  with  a  fiercer 
frenzy,  because  of  its  long  apparent  quiescence  or  imprison- 
ment, seize  on  the  spoils.  The  course  of  the  backslider  is 
fearfully  rapid  and  agonizing  in  the  end.  Please  read  Eph. 
vi.  10  —  18  ;  and  Col.  iii.  1  —  15.  "  Let  Kim  that  thinketh 
he  standeth  take  heed  lest  Tie  fall." 


THE   FATAL   SLEEP   IN    DELILAH'S    LAP.  181 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE   FATAL   SLEEP   IN   DELILAH'S    LAP 

"At  length  to  lay  my  head  and  hallow*  d  pledge 
Of  all  my  strength  in  the  lascivious  lap 
Of  a  deceitful  concubine,  who  shore  me 
Like  a  tame  wether,  all  my  precious  fleeces, 
Then  turn'd  me  out,  ridiculous,  despoil'd, 
Shaven,  and  disarm'd  among  mine  enemies." 

Samson's  Confession. 

FROM  the  fourth  and  following  verses  of  the  sixteenth 
chapter,  we  have  Samson's  next  adventure.  It  is  with  a 
celebrated  beauty  of  great  historic  interest,  belonging  to 
the  vale  of  Sorek,  which  probably  took  its  name  from  the 
brook  that  ran  through  it  and  fell  into  the  sea  near  Askelon. 
This  vale  was  rich  and  populous,  and  probably  occupied  by 
the  best  class  of  the  Philistines.  The  myrtle,  the  vine, 
acacia,  oleander,  olive,  pomegranate,  and  orange  were  fami- 
liar to  the  eyes  of  the  beautiful  Delilah.  Milton  ignores 
the  woman  of  Gaza  altogether,  nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
believe  she  was  Samson's  wife.  But  in  all  his  love  affairs 
there  is  a  singular  disregard  for  the  daughters  of  his  own 
people.*  And  this  may  be  one  reason  why  his  "  course  of 

*  "  La  foiblesse  du  coeur  de  Samson,  dans  toute  cette  histoire,  est 
encore  plus  etonnante  quo  la  force  de  son  corps." — "  The  weakness  of 
Samson's  heart,  in  all  this  history,  is  still  more  surprising  than  the 
strength  of  his  body." — Calmet. 

16 

I 


182  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

love "  never  ran  smoothly.  "  He  always  matched  impro- 
perly, and  he  was  cursed  in  all  his  matches."  His  conduct 
now,  however,  is  the  more  mysterious,  because  he  is  no 
longer  the  young  lover,  "  sighing  like  a  furnace;"  but  of 
mature  years  and  experience— the  same  man  who  went 
down  to  Timnath  some  twenty  years  ago,  as  strong  in  mus- 
cle, but  weaker  in  character.  And  though  his  enemies 
could  not  find  out  what  constituted  his  great  strength,  they 
were  not  slow  in  discovering  where  his  weakness  lay;  and 
as  ordinary  measures  had  not  enabled  them  to  get  the  secret 
of  his  strength,  they  resolved  to  overreach  him  through 
his  fondness  for  a  woman  of  then?  own  nation. 

Of  Delilah's  father  and  mother,  education  and  previous 
character,  we  know  nothing.  And  I  believe  she  is  never 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  after  her  connection  with  Sam- 
son. We  do  not  know  what  became  of  her.  The  name 
Delilah  is  believed  to  signify  "  humiliation — bringing  down 
to  shame — that  which  humbles  and  debases."  We  are  not 
able,  however,  to  explain  how  her  parents  happened  to  give 
her  at  birth  a  name  so  truly  significant  and  prophetic  of  the 
events  of  her  life,  that  give  her  a  place  in  the  world's  his- 
tory. Were  they  under  a  prophetic  impulse  in  giving  a 
name  to  their  child  ?  We  are  only  sure  of  the  historic 
fact.  The  names  of  the  Bible  are  all,  probably,  descriptive 
or  significant,  as  oriental  names  are  still,  and  as  all  names 
were  originally.  Some  have  doubted  whether  Delilah  was 
of  Philistine  parentage.  Hebrew  tradition  and  Josephus, 
however,  assert  that  she  was,  and  this  I  think  the  text 
implies.  Some  doubt,  also,  whether  she  was  ever  Sam- 
son's wife,  or  only  his  concubine.  Milton  considers  her 
his  second  married  wife,  which  seems  to  me  most  likely. 
It  is  true,  however,  she  is  nowhere  called  his  wife ;  and  if 
she  were  his  wife,  it  may  be  pertinently  asked,  why. did  he 
not  take  her  home  to  his  own  house  ?  Though  his  married 


THE   FATAL    SLEEP   IN    DELILAH'S   LAP.  183 

wife,  as  I  think,  she  was  chosen  from  wrong  motives  or 
upon  corrupt  principles.  His  choice  was  made  in  violent 
passion,  rather  than  from  prudence  or  out  of  regard  to  the 
religion  of  his  fathers.  As  a  Philistine,  she  belonged  to  a 
wicked  and  idolatrous  people. 

"  The  lords  of  the  Philistines  "  were  the  chiefs  of  their 
five  principalities :  Gaza,  Gath,  Askelon,  Ashdod,  and 
Ekron.  j£nd  though  these  principalities  were  considered 
in  most  respects  sovereign  and  independent,  yet  in  their 
wars  against  the  Israelites  they  were  generally,  perhaps 
always,  united.  At  this  time  they  were  confederate  against 
the  Hebrew  champion,  and  diligently  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  get  an  advantage  over  him.  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  they  heard  that  Samson  had  formed  an  alliance 
with  Delilah,  they  offered  her  a  large  bribe  if  she  would 
get  from  hiai  the  secret  of  his  strength.  Each  chief  pro- 
mised to  give  her  eleven  hundred  pieces  of  silver,  if  she 
succeeded.  Five  thousand  five  hundred  pieces  of  silver 
was  a  considerable  sum  of  money  in  those  days.  If  these 
pieces,  as  it  is  probable,  were  shekels  of  silver,  the  sum  was 
about  three  thousand  dollars.  - 

The  heathen  are  all  superstitious.  Even  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  with  all  their  enlightenment  in  philosophy  and  in 
•the  arts  and  sciences,  were  the  slaves  of  terrible  supersti- 
tions. The  people  of  the  East  generally  are  given  to 
charms,  incantations,  signs,  and  omens.  As  Samson  did  not 
owe  his  extraordinary  strength  to  the  size  of  his  body,  the 
Philistine  lords  seem  to  have  conjectured  that  it  must  lie 
in  some  amulet  or  charm,  and  that  the  supernatural  power 
he  wielded  depended  on  his  continued  possession  of  some 
magical  ring  or  word ;  and  that  if  they  could  in  any  way 
get  this  secret  from  him,  then  they  could  easily  make  him 
their  prisoner  and  put  him  to  death. 

ti  And  Delilah  said  unto  Samson,  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee 


184  THE   GIANT  JUDGE, 

wherein  thy  great  strength  lieth,  and  wherewith  them 
mightest  be  bound .  to  afflict  thee  ?  And  Samson  said 
unto  her,  If  they  bind  me  with  seven  green  withs,  that 
were  never  dried,  then  shall  I  be  weak,  and  be  as  another 
man." 

I  have  nothing  to  .say  in  defence  of  Samson's  lying.  It 
seems  to  me,  after  all  that  commentators  have  said  in  ex- 
plaining the  text  so  as  to  excuse  at  least  in  part^his  trifling 
with  Delilah,  that  she  was  correct  in  saying  to  him  that  he 
told  her  lies.  Yes,  lies  is  the  word,  neither  white,  nor  little, 
nor  over-the^noulder;  but  in  honest  English  lies.  Nor 
need  I  explain  how  his  soul  was  vexed  unto  death,  for  he 
is  neither  the  first  nor  the  last  man  whose  soul  has  been 
vexed  to  death  by  an  ungodly  woman.  Let  us  then  at 
once  attend  to  the  enticement,  the  repeated  temptation,  the 
struggling  of  the  strong  man  in  the  toils  of  an  artful  woman, 
and  the  success  of  the  beguilement. 

Tho  Philistine  lords  did  not  profess  to  wish  to  kill  Sam- 
son, but  only  "  to  bind  him  to  afflict  him  f  that  is,  accord- 
ing to  the  Hebrew,  "  to  humble  him,  to  bring  him  low." 
"  Entice  him,"  said  they, "  and  see  wherein  his  great  strength 
lieth ;"  literally,  „"  for  what  cause  his  strength  is  so  great." 
Much  as  Delilah  may  have  been  to  blame,  I  should  think 
she  did  not  intend  to  do  all  she  did.  She  did  not  expect 
consequences  to  be  what  they  really  were.  She  did  not  see 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  her  seducers.  Nor  did  she  know 
that  Samson  would  in  fact  be  so  powerless,  and  that  they 
would  tear  out  his  eyes — those  very  eyes  that  gazed  upon 
her  in  such  rapturous  love — and  load  him  with  chains,  and 
carry  him  off  to  grind  in  the  mills  of  Gaza. 

The  best  excuse  I  can  make  for  Delilah  is,  that  out  of 
curiosity — the  very  same  thing  that  is  thought  to  have 
wrought  such  mischief  with  our  first  mother — she  desired 
to  experiment  with  her  husband,  and  find  out  the  secret  of 


THE    FATAL    SLEEP   IN    DELILAH'S   LAP.  185 

his  extraordinary  strength,  but  expecting  every  time  that  he 
would  be  able  to  extricate  himself  from  all  difficulty — not 
believing  it  possible  that  his  enemies  could  finally  and  fatally 
prevail  against  him.  ^s^ 

"If  they  bind  me,"  said  Samson,  "with  seven  green 
withs  that  were  newly  dried."  Withs,  according  to  the 
Hebrew  here,  may  have  been  any  kind  of  tough,  pliable 
wood,  twisted  into  ropes.  The  Septuagint  says  they  were 
cords  made  of  rawhide,  and  so  the  Vulgate,  Tierw'ceis  funi- 
Zms.  It  is  probable  the  first  cords  or  ropes  used  were  thongs 
cut  from  rawhide,  twisted  and  dried.  Tugs  are  extensively 
used  even  in  our  day,  instead  of  iron  chains,  for  drawing 
the  plow,  cart,  harrow,  and  wagon  in  Africa,  and  many  other 
parts  of  the  world.  I  have  seen  ropes  made  of  the  fibres 
of  the  bog-wood,  in  Ireland,  and  of  young  hickories,  hazels, 
or  osiers,  in  our  Southern  and  Western  States.  In  India, 
wild  buffaloes  and  elephants  when  first  caught  are  bound 
with  green  withs.  When  green  they  are  exceedingly  strong, 
but  when  dried  they  are  brittle  and  good  for  nothing.  New 
ropes,  withs,  and  the  sacred  number,  seven,  seem  all  to  have 
been  suggested  by  his  knowledge  of  their  superstitious  ideas 
of  a  charm  or  spell,  for  such  things  were  used  in  heathen 
incantations.  The  monuments  show  that  flax  was  used 
long  before  this  time  fti  Egypt,  and  ropes  of  hemp  may  also 
have  been  in  use ;  but  those  made  of  fibres  of  trees,  or  of 
switches,  were  not  and  are  not  still  superseded. 

11  Now  there  were  men  lying  in  wait,  abiding  with  her  in 
the  chamber,"  or  rather  hidden  in  the  inner  apartment,  not 
present  in  the  same  room,  who  rushed  out  upon  him;  "  but 
Samson  broke  the  withs  as  a  thread  of  tow  is  broken  when 
it  toucheth  the  fire.  So  his  strength  was  not  known."  The 
experiment  with  the  new  ropes  resulted  as  the  one  with  the 
new  withs  had  done.  But  still  Delilah  persists,  and  he  tells 

her  to  weave  the  seven  locks  of  his  head   with  the  web. 
16* 


186         "  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 


Biblical  scholars  tell  us  this  thirteenth  verse  ends  abruptly, 
that  it  should  be  ass  the  Septuagint  has  it,  closing  with  di- 
rections how  to  fasten  his  hair,  just  as  she  accordingly 
does,  as  we  are  told  in  the  ne*t  verse.  This  is  certainly 
the  sense.  "  The  seven  locks"  probably  means  the  seven 
divisions  into  which  his  hair  was  platted.  As  a  Nazarite 
he  was  obliged  to  wear  his  hair  long,  and  as  a  matter  of 
comfort,  it  was  necessary  to  weave  it  into  locks,  or  dis- 
tinct folds,  and  the  number  seven  being  sacred,  it  was  adopt- 
ed. It  was  equivalent  to  all  his  hair.  "  And  she  fastened 
it,"  that  is,  his  hair  in  its  seven-fold  form,  to  the  loom, 
winding  it  about  the  yard-beam,  as  is  plain  from  the  verses 
following. 

This  third  experiment  was  a  much  more  dangerous  one 
than  the  preceding;  it  approached  so  near  to  his  awful 
secret  that  we  begin  to  tremble  for  him.  He  is  now  begin- 
ning to  handle  sharp-edged  tools.  The  circle  is  growing 
smaller  and  smaller  with  fearful  rapidity.  He  tells  his  en- 
chantress, if  his  long  locks  were  woven  around  the  beam  of 
the  loom,  he  would  be  as  another  man.  And  she  to  make 
the  experiment  more  sure,  fastened  the  web  to  the  floor  or  wall 
with  a  pin.  But  as  he  was  still  possessed  of  the  mark  of 
his  covenant  with  Jehovah,  so  the  Philistines  could  not  pre- 
vail against  him.  He  dragged  the  -whole  loom,  web,  pin, 
beam,  and  all  by  his  hair. 

But  does  Samson  now  arouse  himself,  and  say,  I  have 
trifled  long  enough  ;  away,  fair  tempter,  I  cannot  stay  any 
longer  on  this  dangerous  ground  ;  I  cannot  sin  against  God, 
and  do  so  wicked  a  thing  as  to  betray  my  secret?  Alas  ! 
the  woman's  importunities  prevail.  "  He  told  her  all  that 
was  in  his  heart."  So  great  was  his  infatuation  that,  like 
the  moth,  he  approached  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  flame, 
until  he  was  consumed  by  it.  He  told  her  of  his  wondrous 
birth,  and  eventful  life,  and  divine  deliverances  ;  that  he 


THE    FATAL   SLEEP    IN    DELILAH'S    LAP.  187 

was  a  Nazarite,  and  that  the  preservation  of  his  long  hair 
was  a  test  of  his  obedience,  and  a  token  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence to  aid  him  whenever  opportunity  presented  for  execu- 
ting justice  upon  her  countrymen ,  and  that  if  his  hair 
were  shaven  he  would  be  as  another  man,  because  by  such 
a  sin  he  would  deprive  himself  of  the  divine  power  that 
was  vouchsafed  to  him  as  long  as  he  was  faithful  to  his 
vows.  She  saw,  by  his  earnest  tone,  and  subdued  and  sin- 
cere manner,  that  he  was  no  longer  amusing  her,  but  had 
actually  told  her  the  secret  of  his  strength.  But  instead 
of  being  favourably  impressed  by  this  mark  of  his  confidence, 
or  moved  from  her  satanic  purpose  of  pressing  her  experi- 
ments by  this  proof  of  his  honesty,  and  of  his  ardent  love 
for  her,  she  immediately  took  measures  to  betray  him. 
Accordingly  she  makes  such  positive  assurances  to  the  Phil- 
istine lords  that  they  are  not  to  be  trifled  with  this  time, 
that  they  hurry  up  to  Sorek  with  the  money  in  hand.  And 
she  tells  them  that  he  has  told  her  at  last  the  secret  of  his 
heart,  and  they  counted  out  the  money.  And  sure  enough, 
this  time  her  plan  succeeds,  as  I  would  fain  hope  even  be- 
yond her  own  wishes.  --^"  ~~~"- 

"  And  she  made  him  sleep  upon  her  knees."'"*  At  noon, 
in  the  East,  it  is*  very  hot,  and  the  inhabitants  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  a  siesta.  This  short  repose  is  usually  taken 
by  a  son  in  the  lap  of  his  mother,  or  by  a  husband  in  the 
lap  of  his  wife.  The  climate  and  fixtures  of  their  domes- 
tic establishments  are  suited  for  such  a  luxury.  The  woman 
sits  on  a  divan,  or  mat,  or  carpet,  crosslegged,  and  the  man 
lays  himself  down  with  his  head  in  her  lap,  "  and  she  gently 
taps,  strokes,  sings,  and  soothes  him  to  sleep." 

"  And  she  called  for  a  man,  and  caused  him  to  shave  off 
the  Sfisen  locks  of  his  head/'  Most,  if  not  all,  the  pictures 

have  ever  seen  of  Samson  in  Delilah's  lap,  represent  her 
with  a  pair  of  scissors,  cutting  off  his  hair  with  her  own 


188  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

hands.  This  is  altogether  wrong.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  scissors  were  then  in  use.  It  is,  however,  well 
-known  that  barbers  by  profession  are  nearly  as  old  as  the 
creation.  They  are  found  on  the  oldest  monuments  of  the 
Nile  j  and  the  monuments  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  as 
well  as  of  Egypt,  prove  that  wig  wearing  was  very  common 
in  a  very  remote  antiquity.  The  Arabian  Nights  and  Ori- 
ental tales  speak  of  barbers  as  belonging  to  an  ancient  and 
important  profession.  The  embalming  surgeon  of  Egypt 
>seems  to  have  been  also  a  common  barber. 

J      While  Samson  sleeps,  the   barber    takes  off  his  sacred 
'  locks.     So  skilful  were  the  barbers  of  the  East  that  they 
are  said  to  have  been  able  to  take  off  a  man's  beard  or  hair 
without   awaking  him,  nay,  rather  to  have  lulled  him  to 
sweeter  sleep  by  the  operation. 

I  do  not  understand  Samson  to  say,  in  the  seventeehth 
verse,  that  his  great  strength  existed  essentially  in  his  hair. 
All  Nazarites  had  long  hair,  but  they  did   not  all  possess 
superhuman  strength,  nor  strength  in  proportion  as  their 
I:   hair  was  long.     Samson  is*  not,  therefore,  to  be  understood 

V  as  saying  that  his  hair  was  essentially  his  strength,  or  that 
his  strength  was  natural,  but  that  his  hair  was  the  mark  of 
his  Nazarite  relation  to  God,  whose  Spirit  imparted  to  him 
his  miraculous  strength.  He  meant  that  his  long  hair  was 
a  proof  of  his  obedience,  and  of  his  covenant  with  God, 
from  whom  he  derived  and  would  always  derive  strength  so 
long  as  he  was  obedient  to  him.  And  consequently,  if  he 
were  disobedient,  and  his  hair  were  shaven,  then  the 
Nazarite  vow  that  consecrated  him  to  God  would  be  broken, 
and  God  would  abandon  him,  and  he  would  become  weak 
as  another  man.  The  secret  was  now  out,  and  the  plot  was 
speedily  executed.  et  And  she  began  to  afflict  him,  and  his 
strength  went  from  him."  This  she  did  herself,  before  she 
called  for  the  Philistines,  to  see  whether  he  were  really 


THE   FATAL    SLEEP   IN   DELILAH'S   LAP.  189 

weak  now  as  another  man.  And  though  she  is  now  con- 
vinced that  he  has  lost  his  strength,  she  still  probably 
thought  it  was  only  for  a  little  time,  and  that  in  actual  ex- 
tremity he  would  recover  it  again. 

How  deep  must  have  been  Samson's  mortification  !  How 
terrible  his  agony  and  disappointment,  to  find  that  he  had 
broken  his  vows,  and  was  indeed  forsaken  of  God  !  At 
first  he  was  not  conscious  of  his  awful  fall.  "  He  awoke 
out  of  his  sleep,  and  said,  I  will  go  out  as  at  other  times 
before,  and  shake  myself.  And  he  wist  not  that  the  Lord 
was  departed  from  him.  But  the  Philistines  took  him  and 
put  out  his  eyes,  and  brought  him  down  to  Gaza,  and  bound 
him  with  fetters  of  brass;  and  he  did  grind  in  the  prison 
house."  His  sleeping  was  accursed,  and  more  accursed  his 
waking.  "He  that  sleeps  "in  sin  must  look  to  wake  in  loss 
and  weakness."*  There  may  be  those  who  think  that  Sam- 
son could  not  have  been  so  easily  overcome.  It  is  wonder- 
ful that,  after  he  had  been  three  times  tried,  and  had  found 
each  time  that  the  Philistines  were  lying  in  wait,  within 
call,  to  come  upon  him,  he  allowed  Delilah  to  dally  with 
him  a  fourth  time,  and  then  told  her  the  real  secret 
of  all  his  strength.  His  infatuation  was  most  extraordi- 
nary ;  but  inordinate  and  unlawful  attachments  of  this  kind 
have  generally  been  found  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  most 
horrid  and  revolting  deeds  in  the  chronicles  of  strong  men. 
Remember  David,  and  beware  of  the  weakness  of  human 
nature. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  we  have  here  a  full 
account  of  all  the  interviews  or  conversations  that  passed 
betwee-n  Samson  and  Delilah.  He  was  a  judge  in  Israel, 
and  however  ardent  his  passions  may  have  been,  it  is  not  at 
all  likely  that  he  surrendered  without  a  struggle.  We  know 

*  Bishop  Hall. 


190  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

that  she  had  to  apply  all  her  arts  repeatedly.  She  watched 
for  moments  most  favourable  to  her  designs.  She  found 
out  by  what  arts  of  soft  dalliance  she  could  obtain  the 
greatest  influence  over  him.  She  resorted  to  every  means 
of  lulling  his  suspicions.  He  seems  not  to  have  known  of 
the  bribe,  nor  at  first  of  her  intercourse  with  his  national 
enemies.  And  even  after  he  found  that  she  had  the  Philis- 
tines lying  in  wait  to  rush  upon  him,  as  soon  as  she  fancied 
he  had  told  her  his  secret,  he  was  easily  persuaded  that  it 
was  all  in  jest.  Perhaps  she  flattered  him,  and  told  him 
she  loved  to  see  him  displaying  his  great  strength,  and 
making  sport  of  the  Philistines.  Nor  did  he  fall  in  a 
moment,  nor  in  an  hour.  Doubtless  several  days,  it  may 
be  weeks  or  months,  intervened ;  time  enough  for  his  resent- 
ment to  cool,  or  for  removing  his  suspicions,  and  for  her  to 
ply  all  her  arts  of  persuasion  and  blandishment.  Once  and 
again  he  visits  Sorek,  and  every  time  she  gains  some  new 
point  of  influence  over  him.  She  conducts  the  siege  with 
admirable  skill.  Simple  minded  and  confiding  as  he  was 
strong,  he  is  at  last  surprised  and  taken.  We  have  no  re- 
cord of  his  internal  conflict,  but  the  battle  in  his  great  soul 
must  have  been  a  terrific  struggle  before  he  yielded.  There 
seems  to  have  been  less  prudence,  and  not  so  much  firmness 
as  he  displayed  with  his  first  wife.  He  gave  his  Timnite 
bride  at  first  a  flat  refusal  when  she  attempted  to  get  his 
secret.  But  he  had  not  courage  to  give  a  direct  and  empha- 
tic No  to  Delilah  at  all.  She  plied  her  arts,  and  succeeded 
in  lulling  his  suspicions,  until  he  told  her  all  his  heart,  and 
said,  "  I  have  been  a  Nazarite  unto  God  from  my  mother's 
womb." 

How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !  What  a  confession  to  be 
made  in  the  lap  of  Delilah !  What  a  sad  commentary 
upon  his  education  and  youthful  hopes !  Why  did  not 
the  very  utterance  of  such  words  arouse  him  to  a  sense 


THE    FATAL   SLEEP   IN   DELILAH'S    LAP.  lf>l 

of  his  shame  ?  Why  did  he  not  flee  as  for  his  life  ? 
Strange  that  he  was  so  infatuated  that  he  did  not  even 
now,  at  this  late  hour,  break  away  at  all  hazards  from  the 
enchantress !  But  it  is  just  so  now.  He  that  departs  from 
God  hardens  his  heart  and  sears  his  conscience,  and  soon 
falls  into  the  fatal  habit  of  disregarding  the  warnings  of 
his  conscience  and  of  God's  word.  To  dally  with  Delilah 
is  fatal.  The  only  safety  is  flight.  . 


192  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

A   GRIST   FROM   THE   PRISON   MILL     OP  GAZA. 

"  In  that  tale  I  find 

The  furrows  of  long  thought,  and  dried-up  tears, 
Which  ebbing,  leave  a  sterile  track  behind, 
O'er  which  all  heavily  the  journeying  years 
Plod  the  last  sands  of  life — where  not  a  flower  appears." 

GUlde  Harold. 

WHEN  Josephus  says  Samson  was  a  prophet,  he  means 
that  he  was  raised  up  by  a  particular  providence,  and  set 
apart  to  (rod's  service  as  a  Nazarite,  and  had  an  extraordi- 
nary commission  from  God  for  avenging  his  people  :  and 
not  that  he  had  any  prophetic  revelations.  Such  revela- 
tions were  not  made  by  him ;  nevertheless  he  was  a  great 
teacher.  In  him  we  see  the  workings  of  human  nature,  and 
the  deep  strugglings  of  higher  principles,  both  in  prosperity 
and  adversity.  But  he  has  fallen — sadly  fallen  through  the 
fascinations  of  an  ungodly,  unprincipled  woman.  The 
tempest  that  had  so  often  before  nearly  made  shipwreck  of 
our  giant  judge,  has  at  last  stranded  him  on  the  beach. 
And  scarcely  was  Christendom  more  convulsed  at  the  fall 
of  Sebastopol,  than  was  all  Philistia  at  the  capture  of  Sam- 
son. 

u  The  Philistines  took  him,  and  put  out  his  eyes,  and  brought 
him  down  to  Gaza,  and  bound  him  with  fetters  of  brass ; 
and  he  did  grind  in  the  prison-house." 


'  _*Liii' J 

"C^^^w1  **^^»^^o^^^y       ^^w^fw^w^^  »  ^' 

X  f 

A   GRIST    FROM    THE    PRISON    MItL   OP   GAZA.        193 

Delilah's  fourth  experiment  succeeded,  perhaps,  even 
beyond  her  expectations  ',  and  when  the  Ltfrd  departed  from 
Samson,  instead  of  being  able  to  carry  away  the  doors  of 
Gaza  on  his  shoulders,  he  is  now  led  thither  a  helpless  cap- 
tive— blind  and  in  chains.  How  sad  the  change  !  But  more 
humiliating  far  the  cause  of  this  change,  than  the  ignominy 
of  his  external  sufferings.  Now  the  very  arms  that  once 
wielded  the  new  jaw-bone  with  such  terrible  effect,  and 
rent  asunder  the  new  cords  and  withs  as  burnt  tow,  are 
bound  hard  and  fast  in  fetters  of  brass.  An  insulting  guard 
of  uncircumcised  Dagon-worshippers  taunt  and  goad  him 
along  the  weary  road  down  to  Gaza :  Aha  !  this  is  the  way 
you  carry  off  our  doors  from  the  city  gate,  is  it?  Don't 
you  wish  you  could  find  another  jaw-bone  ?  Cowardly 
wretches;  but  yesterday  ten  thousand  of  you  could  not 
stand  before  him,  nor  could  you  now,  had  he  only  been  faith- 
ful to  his  God  !  But  such  is  always  the  way  of  trans- 
gression— such  are  always  the  consequences  of  departing 
from  the  living  God.  Those  sacred  locks  that  had  been 
tenderly  cherished  by  his  mother,  and  hitherto  so  much 
cared  for  by  himself,  are  left  in  Sorek,  the  spoils  and  the 
sport  of  a  faithless  woman  and  her  accomplices  in  crime. 
His  gait  and  bearing  are  not  now  as  of  yore.  That  head, 
so  long  adorned  with  glossy  locks,  sealing  his  birth-conse- 
cration to  Jehovah,  is  now  bald  and  exposed  to  a  Syrian  sun. 
His  steps,  once  so  steady  and  so  firm,  are  now  feeble  and 
tripping.  The  eyes,  that  once  gazed  upon  the  heavens  in 
rapt  devotion,  and  were  wont  to  speak  flames  of  love,  or 
shoot  forth  the  fire  of  anger,  are  now  rayless,  never  again 
to  kindle  with  the  light  of  the  sun.  Newly  blind,  he  hob- 
bles along,  not  having  yet  learned  how  to  walk  without  his 
eyes.  How  different  his  return,  from  his  defiant  departure 
from  the  same  city  with  its  doors  upon  his  shoulders ! 

"  And  the  Philistines  put  out  his  eyes."  We  are  told 
17 


194  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

that  in  Persia,  it  is  the  practice  of  the  king  to  punish  a 
rebellious  city  by  exacting  so  many  pounds  of  eyes,  and  that 
in  fulfilling  this  order,  his  executioners  go  and  "  scoop  out 
from  every  one  they  meet,  till  they  have  the  weight  required." 
Learned  authors  agree  in  saying  that  the  common  way  of 
putting  out  the  eyes  among  the  Greeks  and  Asiatics,  was 
"  by  drawing  or  holding  a  red-hot  iron  before  them."  This 
awful  custom  is  still  known  in  Asia  and  Africa.  Sometimes, 
but  not  usually,  the  eyes  were  cut  out,  and  sometimes  dug 
out  with  a  dagger  and  carried  to  the  king  in  a  basin,  after 
the  manner  of  John  the  Baptist's  head  to  Herodias'  daugh- 
ter. The  evidence  is  full  that  such  acts  of  cruelty  were 
common  in  ancient  times.  And  sometimes,  history  informs 
us,  the  executioners  ordered  to  destroy  the  eyes  of  prisoners 
were  so  careless  that  the  prisoners  lost  their  lives  under 
the  operation.  M.  Bonomi,  in  his  "Nineveh  and  its  Pal- 
aces," (p.  169,)  furnishes  us  with  a  drawing  from  Khorsa- 
bad,  that  illustrates  this  savage  barbarity.  The  engraving 
is  copied  from  the  sculpture  on  the  chamber  of  the  palace 
of  the  king.  The  central  figure  is  the  king  himself,  and 
before  him  are  three  prisoners,  the  foremost  one  on  his 
knees  in  a  most  beseeching  attitude,  and  the  other  two  stand- 
ing behind  in  humble  posture,  begging  for  mercy.  The 
king  is  thrusting  the  point  of  his  spear  into  one  of  the  eyes 
of  the  suppliant  before  him,  while  with  his  left  hand 
he  holds  the  ends  of  cords  fastened  to  the  upper  lips  of  the 
other  captives,  who  are  manacled  and  fettered,  and  standing 
behind  the  one  whose  eyes  are  about  to  be  put  out.  The 
king  is  attended  also  by  his  cup-bearer  and  officers  of  state, 
bearing  sceptres ;  by  a  eunuch  and  the  chief  governor,  or 
Rdb  Signeen.  Who  knows  but  that  this  is  the  history  of 
king  Zedekiah  from  2  Kings  illustrated  ? 

"  And  bound  him  with  fetters"  of  brass."     The  Philistines 
were  so  terribly  afraid  of  Samson,  that  they  not  only  put 


A   GRIST    FROM    THE   PRISON    MILL   OP   GAZA.       195 

out  his  eyes,  but  bound  him.  Though  his  arms  were  now 
as  feeble  as  any  other  man's,  yet  his  bodily  presence  was 
to  them  as  king  Edward's  skin  and  armour  were  to  the 
border  clans.  They  were  determined  that  if  by  any  means 
his  strength  should  return  to  him,  so  that  he  should  break 
the  fetters  with  which  he  was  bound,  yet  he  should  not 
have  eyes  to  see  how  to  use  it.  The  "  brass"  of  the  text  is 
copper,  for  as  yet  the  factitious  metal  known  to  us  as  brass 
was  not  in  use.  We  have  ample  proof,  however,  of  the  use 
of  copper  in  remote  ages  for  many  purposes  to  which  iron 
is  now  applied.  Ancient  monuments  show  conclusively 
that  chains,  fetters,  instruments  for  labour  and  for  cooking, 
knives,  axes,  and  vases,  dishes,  and  dice  boxes,  hammers, 
chisels,  adzes,  and  hatchets,  daggers,  rings,  prisoners'  fet- 
ters, and  strong  chains  were  all  used  by  the  ancients.  Such 
articles,  and  a  bowl  of  bitumen  overlaid  with  copper  and  a 
piece  of  lead,  have  been  brought  from  the  ruins  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates,  and  are  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
Those  brought  from  Tel  Sifx  in  ancient  Babylon  by  Mr. 
Loftus,*  seem  to  have  been  the  stock  in  trade  of  a  copper- 
smith, whose  forge  was  near  by.  Copper  was  used  in  tm- 
cient  Egypt,  where  the  art  of  hardening  the  points  of  their 
copper  instruments  seems  to  have  been  more  perfectly  known 
than  it  is  in  the  present  day.  The  obelisks  of  the  Nile  snx* 
covered  with  hieroglyphics,  and  yet  they  are  so  hard,  tl  ;  t 
it  is  with  great  difficulty  any  inscriptions  can  be  cut  on  th< '  > 
with  our  tools.  The  cutting  of  the  French  inscriptions  <  u 
the  obelisk  set  up  by  Louis  Philippe  in  the  Place  de  fa. 
Concorde,  is  in  proof  of  this.  We  find  the  Israelites  usinsr 
copper  abundantly  in  building  the  tabernacle.  Though  iron 
was  not  wholly  unknown  to  the  ancients,  it  was  not  much 
used.  It  will  be  readily  remembered,  however,  that  the 

*  Loftus's  Travels  and  Researches  in   Babylonia  and  Susiana,  p.  2C9. 
See  also  Lajard's  Nineveh — passim. 


196  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

Bible  speaks  in  several  places  of  chains  and  fetters  of  brass 
(copper,)  See,  particularly,  Psalms  xlix.  8  ;  2  Kings  xxv. 
7}  and  the  history  of  Manasseh  and  Hezekiah.  Mr.  Layard 
thinks  the  fetters  of  the  prisoners  at  Nineveh  were  of  iron, 
but  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  monuments  prove  that 
those  of  Egyptian  prisoners  were  of  copper.  Mr.  Loftus 
thinks  that  the  Chaldeans  were  a  colony  from  Egypt.  The 
best  authorities,  as  we  have  seen,  agree  that  the  Philistines, 
were  of  Egyptian  origin.  It  were  a  deeply  interesting  sub- 
ject, but  one  that  does  not  come  within  my  present  purpose, 
to  trace  out  from  ancient  history  and  the  readings  of  recent 
discoveries,  the  striking  similarities  that  exist  between  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  Philistines.  Modern 
researches  and  discoveries  all  tend  to  corroborate  the  unity 
of  the  human  races,  and  their  dispersion  from  a  common 
cradle,  according  to  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters  of  Gen- 
esis. 

I  think  this  is  the  first  time  the  Bible  speaks  of  putting 
out  any  one's  eyes;  and  the  first  time  that  we  have  men- 
tion made  of  a  prison  since  the  record  of  Pharaoh's  round 
house,  in  the  history  of  Joseph.  The  sculptured  records 
of  the  East  prove,  however,  the  great  antiquity  of  the 
usages  referred  to  in  the  text.  The  ancients  were  in  the 
habit  of  keeping  some  of  their  prisoners  to  grace  a  great 
feast  or  triumphal  procession,  and  in  the  mean  time  of  heap- 
ing upon  them  every  possible  insult  and  cruelty  that  life 
could  bear. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Indians  of   America  delight 

O 

in  such  cruelties.  They  inflict  wounds  on  their  prisoners, 
and  treat  them  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  that  they  may 
see  how  much  courage  they  have,  and  enjoy  their  writhings 
of  pain.  Sometimes  the  prisoners  are  made  to  run  the 
gauntlet,  or  to  dance  and  sing  through  the  most  exquisite 


A    GRIST    FROM    THE   PRISON    MILL   OF    GAZA.        197 

sufferings  from  wounds  or  from  the  slowly  consuming  flames, 
until  death  releases  them. 


'fife', 


In  the  mean  time  Samson  is  not  only  bound,  but  made 
to  grind  at  the  mills  as  a  slave,  and  as  a  slave  of  the  state. 
His  condition  was  in  every  respect  a  most  painfully  aggra- 
vated one — much  more  so  than  if  he  had  been  reduced  to 
servitude  in  a  private  family,  whose  self-interest,  if  no 
higher  motives  were  found,  would  prompt  them  to  mild 
treatment.  Here  is  the  original  of  imprisonment  at  hard 
17* 


198  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

labour.  I  presume  this  is  the  first  instance  of  penitentiary 
labour  on  record,  and  I  think  it  is  the  only  instance  in  the 
Bible  of  imprisonment  and  hard  labour  united.  The  orien- 
tal custom  with  prisoners  was  either  a  summary  execution, 
when  not  reserved  for  a  triumph,  or  condemnation  to  perpe- 
tual servitude.  From  Lam.  v.  11,  and  Isa.  xlvii.  2,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  Chaldeans  made  such  of  their  Hebrew  cap- 
tives as  they  wished  especially  to  degrade,  to  grind  in  the 
mill.  Herodotus  says  that  the  Scythians  put  out  the  eyes 
of  all  their  prisoners  of  war,  and  made  them  milkers  of 
their  cows.  Probably  they  considered  blind  slaves  better 
for  milking,  and  for  grinding,  somewhat  as  we  put  a  blind 
horse,  or  a  blind-folded  one  to  turn  the  wheel  in  sawing 
wood,  and  for  the  performance  of  like  rotary  work. 

In  Zanzibar  and  Eastern  Africa,  as  well  as  in  portions 
of  Asia  and  on  many  of  the  islands  of  the  sea,  this  kind 
of  primitive  mill  and  the  mortar  are  the  only  instruments 
in  use  for  grinding.  The  Cassuda  root,  ground  or  pounded, 
is  the  staple  food  of  the  poorer  classes.  The  mill  consists 

of    two    flat    circular    stones, 
i,|         some    two   feet    in    diameter. 

"  The  one  is  convex,  having  a 
|.  hole  through  which  the  grain 

passes,  and  is  supported  upon 

the  other,  which  is  concave,  by 
a  firm  peg.  To  the  upper  stone  is  affixed  a  handle,  by 
which  it  is  kept  revolving  by  two  women  sitting  on  opposite 
sides  of  .the  mill."  (Osgood's  Notes,  p.  26.) 

So  necessary  was  the  mill  considered  in  a  family,  that  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  Moses,  "  no  man  shall  take  the  nether <, 
or  the  upper  millstone  to  pledge,  for  he  taketh  a  man's  life 
to  pledge."  That  is,  his  life  and  that  of  his  family  depended 
on  his  having  a  mill  by  which  to  prepare  their  bread.  "The 
game  law  substantially  prevails  among  us.  The  constable 


A   GRIST    FROM    THE    PRISON    MILL   OF   GAZA.        199 

cannot  take  by  a  suit  at  law  the  miner's  tools,  the  farmer's 
plough,  nor  the  mechanic's  saw  and  chisel. 

The  prophet  expressed  the  utter  desolation  of  Babylon 
by  saying :  "  The  sound  of  the  millstone  shall  be  heard  no 
more  at  all."  That  is,  it  shall  become  a  mass  of  ruins. 
The  means  of  subsistence  shall  wholly  cease.  This  pro- 
phecy has  been  literally  fulfilled.  All  that  is  now  to  be 
seen  in  the  marshes  and  by  "  the  standing  pools  "  of  Baby- 
lon, are  ruins,  a  solitary  traveller  and  a  few  flitting,  robbing 
Bedouins. 

Mills  are  probably  as  old  as  looms,  and  both  go  back  to 
remotest  times.  Hand-mills  resembling  those  of  the  most 
ancient  monuments  are  still  in  use  in  China,  Africa,  and  the 
East  generally.  Grain  was  first  prepared  for  bread  probably 
by  boiling  it  and  then  bruising  it  in  a  mortar.  The  mor- 
tar and  pestle  are  still  in  use  among  the  aborigines  of  this 
continent  for  pounding  or  grinding  acorns  and  grain  into 
meal.  And  the  opinion  prevails  among  not  a  few,  that 
meal  obtained  in  this  way  is  sweeter  than  that  ground  in 
our  common  mills.  The  Anglo-Saxons  of  an  early  period 
used  the  same  kind  of  mills  that  are  found  in  the  East,  and 
this  may  be  another  proof  of  what  Dr.  Pritchard  aifirrns  in 
a  recent  work,  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Celts.  The  first 
mills  were  probably  turned  by  women,  slaves,  and  prisoners, 
and  in  process  of  time  by  oxen  and  donkeys,  and  then  by 
wind  and  water,  and  now  by  steam.  Several  allusions  are 
made  in  the  Bible  to  women  grinding  at  the  mill,  which  are 
explained  in  the  custom  just  described.  The  Philistines 
designed,  by  making  Samson  grind  at  the  mill,  to  show  their 
vindictive  contempt  for  him.  In  making  him  grind  with 
women  and  slaves  for  their  sport,  they  also  made  him  work 
for  us.  For  his  eventful  history  helps  us  to  understand 
somewhat  more  fully  the  awful  verities  of  God,  and  the 
sublime  teachings  of  a  world  to  come.  Blind  and  grinding 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

at  the  mill  -a  close  prisoner  and  in  terrible  suffering,  he  is 
utitled  to  our  deepest  sympathies.  His  condition  is  a 
eeply  impressive  illustration  that  the  Scriptures  of  God 
peak  truth  in  warning  us  that  if  we  sow  to  the  flesh,  we 
hall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption — a  harvest  of  sorrow, 
very  step  of  Samson's  life  warns  us  of  snares  in  which 
ur  own  feet  may  be  taken.  Along  the  line  of  his  dark 

passage  from  a  religious  education  and  early  piety,  till  we 

find  him 

"  Eyeless  in  Gaza,  at  the  mill  with  slaves  !" 

a  prisoner  in  the  temple  of  the  heathen  fish-god,  there  are 
many  points  where  we  should  ruminate;  and  as  we  look 
through  the  window  upon  his  gloomy  cell,  and  hear  the 
shouts  of  derision  in  the  streets,  our  gratitude  should  be 
excited  for  the  preventing  grace  of  God  that  has  made  us 
to  differ.  In  following  him,  there  are  many  sharp  turns  and 
dark  windings  and  slippery  places,  where  we  have  great 
need  of  the  light  of  the  sanctuary  to  keep  our  own  feet 
from  falling. 

^-i-Itt.^Saffison's  history  we  see  the  wonderful  forbearance 
of  God,  notwTSisTalna*iTrgr"his  misuse  of  great  mercies  and 
of  supernatural  strength.  Though  he  has  often  fallen,  and 
his  life  thus  far  sadly  disappoints  us,  still  he  was  not  power- 
less till  lie  gave  up  the  secret  of  his  strength.  Stran»o, 
that  at  his  time  of  life,  when  the  fires  of  youth  should  at 
least  have  so  far  cooled  down  as  to  be  under  the  control  of 
reason,  he  should  go  from  Gaza  to  Sorek.  But  he  was  not. 
an  exception  to  the  rule,  that  "  because  sentence  against  an 
evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of 
the  sons  of  men  is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil."  Witli 
Sarnson,  as  with  men  now,  success  made  him  confident  and 
careless  in  sinning.  Continued  prosperity  in  evil-doing  is 
frequently  assumed  to  be  a  tenure  in  perpetuity  of  the 


A   GRIST   FROM    THE   PRISON    MILL    OF    GAZA.        201 

blessings  which  are  thus  abused;  whereas  such  abuses 
enhance  every  moment  the  guilt  that  will  be  all  the  more 
terrible  in  its  results  because  the  judgment  has  been  delayed. 
Samson's  consecration  to  God  before  his  birth;  his  birth 
twice  heralded  by  an  angel;  his  early  and  most  careful 
religious  training;  the  prayers,  sacrifices,  and  pious  hopes 
o£  his  godly  parents ;  and  God's  grace  given  to  him  in  his 
youth,  and  all  the  miraculous  strength  he  had  received — all 
his  experience  of  divine  power  and  goodness  through  an 
extraordinary  life,  only  enhanced  his  guilt,  and  gave 
poignancy  to  his  grief  as  we  see  him  at  Gaza.  The  light 
of  nature  accuses  all  men  of  sin,  so  that  they  are  without 
excuse;  but  Samson's  sins  were  the  more  aggravated  because 
they  were  committed  after  repeated  warnings  and  singular 
deliverances.  He  sinned  against  the  seventh  command- 
ment, and  under  the  historic  light  of  signal  vengeance  upon 
the  nations  of  old  for  their  uncleanness.  He  could  not 
have  been  ignorant  that  it  was  for  licentiousness  the  world 
was  destroyed  by  a  flo*od,  and  the  Canaanites  accursed,  "and 
twenty-three  thousand  of  the  children  of  his  own  people 
had  been  slain,  leaving  their  bones  to  bleach  on  the  sand  on 
their  way  up  from  Egypt.  But  if  we  see  the  wonderful 
forbearance  of  God  in  Samson's  history — what  shall  we  say 
of  the  divine  patience  in  our  own  ?  Except  the  power  to 
perform  miracles,  we  have  as  much  as  he  had  to  enhance 
our  responsibilities.  The  greater  the  degree  of  gospel  liuht 
that  shines  on  usy  the  more  is  our  obligation  increased,  and 
our  guilt  augmented,  if  we  are  disobedient.  Instead  of 
Nazaritish  vows,  we  are  under  solemn  baptismal  obligations, 
which  extend  over  our  whole  term  of  life.  Samson's  long 
hair  was  the  sign  or  test  of,  his  obedience.  So  is  our  bap- 
tism. Dear  reader,  are  you  sure  you  are  not  guilty  of  wip- 
ing away  the  sacred  drops  by  which  you  were  publicly  dedi. 
cated  to  God,  as  Samson  was  shorn  of  his  locks  by  disclos- 


. 

• 

202  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

ing  the  secret  of  his  strength  ?  Have  you  not  at  the  age 
of  maturity  refused  to  confirm  the  confession  of  faith  and  ,  ^ 
vows  made  in  your  behalf,  at  your  baptism,  by  your  parents  ? 
And  are  none  of  you  still  wearing  the  outward  badge  of 
your  covenant  with  God,  who  are  living  in  known  sin  ? 
Do  you  not  remember,  that  as  baptized  persons  you  are 
under  solemn  pledges  "  to  crucify  the  flesh  with  its  affec- 
tions and  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly 
in  this  present  evil  world  ?" 

"    II.  Samson  lost  his  great   strength    in    an   unconscious   / 
manner.     His  frame  was  not  convulsed  when    the  barber 
removed  his  locks.     No  sobs  revealed  the  fact  that  he  had 
become  as  another  man.     He  slept  on  just  as  other  men 
sleep,  but  when  he  awoke,  he  is  as  other  men,  saving  that 
he  is   now  more    degraded.     When   the   Philistines  come 
upon  him,  he  finds  himself  really  as  weak  as  other  men,  and        vv 
is  soon  overpowered. 

"  Even  as  a  dove,  whose  wings  are  clipped  for  flying 
Flutters  her  idle  stumps,  and  still  relying 

Upon  her  wonted  refuge,  strives  in  vain  % 

To  quit  her  life  from  danger,  and  attain 
„    The  freedom  of  "her  air-dividing  plumes  ; 
She  struggles  often,  and  she  oft  presumes 
To  take  the  sanctuary  of  the  open  fields  ; 
But,  finding  that  her  hopes  are  vain,  she  yields — 
Even  so  poor  Samson." — Quarles. 

III.  Samson's  history  is  a  pictorial  of  the  progressive 
downward  tendencies  of  sinning.  Glorious  were  the  hopes 
of  his  infancy.  Brightly  shone  his  morning  sun  in  the 
camp  ^between  Eshtaol  and  Zorah j  but  soon  he  is  astray  at 
Timnath,  and  then  repentant  on  the  top  of  Etam,  then  sin- 
ning at  Gaza,  but  delivered  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  but 
only,  delivered  to  go  to  Sorek,  and  to  fall  a  victim  to 
Delilah's  fascination.  And  in  his  case,  too,  we  see  that  the 
progress  was  made  through  the  senses,  and  that  the  organ  ^ft 


A   GRIST   FROM   THE   PRISON   MILL  OP   GAZA.       203 

of  sense  chiefly  offending  was  made  the  chief  sufferer.  He 
went  down  to  Timnath  and  saw  a  woman  that  pleased  him 
Hi&  eyes  led  him  astray.  But  as  yet,  though  smitten,  he 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  begun  his  wayward  course,  for 
he  goes  and  consults  his  father  and  mother  about  the  wo- 
man. But  time  for  deliberation  and  the  indulgence  of  his 
parents  only  strengthen  his  passion  for  the  maiden.  From 
seeing  her  he  talks  with  her,  and  his  parents  talk  for  him, 
and  at  last  he  is  married,  but  he  does  not  regain  paradise 
by  marrying  a  Philistine.  For  a  good  while  we  know  but 
little  of  him;  doubtless  he  has  found  much  to  regret,  but 
still  is  far  from  being  established  in  grace,  for  by  and  by  we 
find  him  very  unexpectedly  at  Gaza,  in  a  most  shameful 
career  of  guilt;  and  when  delivered  by  supernatural 
strength,  he  is  delivered  only  to  go  and  involve  himself 
more  deeply  than  ever  with  another  Philistine  woman. 
Truly  his  conduct  almost  paralyzes  our  attempts  at  explana- 
tion. 

No  doubt  his  overt  acts  of  sinning  were  preceded,  as  is 
always  the  case  with  backsliders,  by  a  gradual  and  secret 
consumption  of  his  inner  life.  Our  surprise  is  not  so  much 
at  his  shameless  fall  in  Gaza,  as  at  his  backsliding  BO  rapidly 
as  to  allow  himself  to  fall  at  Sorek,  so  soon  again  after  his 
miraculous  deliverance  from  the  Gazites.  But  the  stupefy- 
ing and  hardening  process  and  deceitfulness  of  a  course  of 
sinning  is  seen,  also,  in  his  gradual  approach  to  ruin  in 
sporting  with  Delilah.  There  was  a  sort  of  "method  in 
his  madness,"  but  all  tending  to  his  fall.  He  tells  her  to 
bind  him  "with  seven  green  withs,"  as  though  jestingly 
he  had  said,  Bind  me  with  a  straw,  you  know  I  am  so  fond 
of  you,  you  can  do  anything  you  wish  with  me.  And  when 
he  tells  her  to  weave  the  seven  locks  of  his  head,  we  find 
him  sporting  with  sacred  things.  Now  it  is  plain  he  is  lost. 
His  enchantress  is  within  the  guards ;  the  sentinels  are  all 


204  THE  GIANT    JUDGE. 

past  j  a  little  more  cunning  and  perseverance,  and  she 
wins.  "  She  has  allured  him  to  the  brink  of  the  precipice, 
where  his  senses  reel  and  sicken,  and  get  to  be  quite  use- 
less, and  as  good  as  abandoned  him."  As  he  decayed  in 
spiritual  life,  so  the  Lord  departed  from  him.  But  like 
most  miserable  backsliders,  he  was  surprised  that  the  Lord 
had  really  forsaken  him.  He  fancied  he  could  have  pro- 
ceeded with  perfect  impunity  to  such  extremities.  He  was 
not  prepared  to  find  himself  forsaken.  But  his  experience 
soon  convinced  him  that  he  had  not  only  lost  the  graces  and 
gifts  with  which  he  had  been  endowed,  but  as  he  struggled 
and  fell  under  the  rude  grasp  of  .his  blood-thirsty  ene- 
mies, he  finds  that  the  Lord  had  indeed  departed  from  him. 
And,  doubtless,  if  we  could  read  the  inner  history  of  thou- 
sands of  living  men  who  are  fulfilling  the  lusts  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  rnind,  we  should  find  that  their  departure  from 
the  principles  of  their  pious  education  had  been  quite  ac- 
curately typified  in  Samson's  downward  course.  There  is 
something  alarming  and  mournful  in  the  fact  that  the  pious 
resolutions  of  many  men,  and  the  feelings  of  their  early 
years,  will  not  be  awakened  till  they  are  on  a  death -bed,  or 
at  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ. 

We  are  prone  to  forget  that  strength  of  character  in  evil 
or  in  good  is  a  growth,  and  may  be  a  slow  and  imperceptible 
growth.  The  oak  is  called  the  monarch  of  the  forest,  but 
is  not  of  mushroom  growth.  First  the  acorn  sprouted,  the 
tiny  leaf  appeared,  the  rains  bathed  it,  the  winds  rocked  it, 
the  sun  gladdened  it  j  and  as  it  grew  its  capacities  enlarged, 
and  its  arms  were  stretched  out-for  more  air,  and  dew,  and 
sunshine,  and  its  roots  went  down  deeper  into  the  earth,  to 
draw  up  from  thence  the  necessary  sustenance  and  support. 
Frosts  and  snows  became  as  efficient  educators  as  light,  and 
air,  and  dew ;  and  after  many  changing  seasons  of  day  and 
night,  cold  and  heat,  sunshine  and  storm,  the  tree  was 


A  GRIST   PROM   THE   PRISON   MILL   OF  GAZA.       205 

crowned  monarch  of  the  forest.  And  so  it  is  in  the  edu- 
cation of  our  children.  Their  development  is  by  degrees; 
their  mental  and  moral  powers  are  a  growth  as  well  as  their 
bodies;  and  all  the  discipline  and  educators  of  the  world 
in  which  they  live  are  necessary  to  give  them  strength  and 
beauty.  They  must  be  cared  for  and  protected — they  must 
receive  discipline  and  culture  from  misfortunes  as  well  as 
from  success.  They  will  have  to  pass  through  long  dreary 
days  as  well  as  through  bright  and  joyous  ones.  Books  and 
men,  persons  and  things,  the  whole  living  world  of  art  and 
of  nature,  are  constantly  giving  them  lessons ;  and  more 
than  everything  else,  the  example  of  their  own  parents  and 
immediate  associates.  The  fireside  is  the  world's  greatest 
university.  The  great  masses  of  mankind  do  not  receive 
the  honours  of  a  college,  but  all  are  graduates  of  the  hearth. 
The  learning  of  the  books  and  the  lectures  of  university 
halls  may  moulder  and  rust  in  the  storehouse  of  memory, 
but  the  simple  lessons  of  home,  enamelled  upon  the  years 
of  childhood,  defy  the  decay  of  years.  In  attempting  to 
clean  and  restore  an  old  portrait,  it  sometimes  happens  that 
a  brighter  picture  is  revealed  beneath  the  old  one.  So  it 
may  be  with  youth  and  manhood.  The  first  picture  on  the 
canvass  is  the  one  drawn  in  our  tenderest  years,  and  though 
it  may  be  covered  over  by  others,  it  is  imperishable ;  and  as 
time  ripens,  and  we  approach  nearer  to  eternity,  it  will  shine 
through  the  outward  picture,  and  perhaps  wholly  eclipse  it. 
Early  impressions  are  the  strongest,  and  the  last  to  fade 
from  the  memory.  The  home  fireside  is  the  greatest  insti- 
tution God  has  furnished  for  the  education  of  our  race,  and 
his  truth  is  the  most  powerful  agent  for  enlightening  and 
forming  the  mind. 

We  have  said  before  and  we  repeat  it  again,  it  is  upon 
family  culture  and  training,  more  than  anything  else,  we 
place  our  hope  for  the  future  of  our  country.     Corruption 
18 


206  THE  GIANT   JUDGE. 

is  the  plague  of  Republics.  It  makes  tbein  weak,  and  then 
they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  a  military  despot.  Nor  is  any 
system  of  mere  morality  and  civilization  sufficient  to  stand 
against  the  corrupting  influences  of  wealth  segregated  from 
Christianity.  History  also  proves,  beyond  cavil,  that  it  is 
not  enough  to  cry  out  .against  corruption  when  it  comes. 
It  is  then  too  late.  Demosthenes  did  this.  Cicero  did  the 
same ;  and  yet  both  Athens  and  Rome  perished.  Resist- 
ance was  made  too  late.  The  only  effectual  stand  that  can  be 
against  it  is  in  the  nursery.  Our  homes  must  be  the  train- 
ing places  of  virtue  and  religion.  The  mother  and  the  fa- 
ther must  be  the  great  teachers  of  the  household.  The 
father  must  maintain  discipline  and  morality,  and  the 
mother  must  instil  the  sweet  lessons  of  pious  sentiments, 
and  of  stern  morality,  amidst  a  corrupting  and  sensual  age. 
When  all  our  wives  are  "  chaste,  keepers  at  home/7  and 
thoroughly  awake  to  their  high  behests  as  the  mothers  of 
the  model  Republic ;  and  instead  of  fluttering  in  silk  for 
public  admiration,  make  it  a  paramount  duty  to  teach  their 
sons  the  principles  of  honour,  patriotism,  and  integrity,  then 
we  shall  underwrite  with  confidence  the  perpetuity  of  our 
liberties. 

Then  as  patriots  and  friends  of  the  Great  Redeemer,  we 
must  increase  our  contributions  and  personal  efforts  to 
advance  true  religion  in  the  world.  We  must  not  sit  still 
in  inglorious  ease,  until  the  ruins  of  our  distinctive  institu- 
tions bury  us  arid  the  hopes  of  mankind  invested  in  us. 
We  must  be  up  and  at  the  powers  of  avarice,  prejudice, 
selfishness,  ignorance,  and  irreligion.  No  time  is  to  be 
lost.  While  we  sleep  the  enemy  sows  tares ;  and  besides, 
the  day  is  far  spent  already,  and  the  night  cometh  when  no 
man  can  work. 

IV.  Once  more,  the  downward  course  of  the  Hebrew 
judge  illustrates  our  reluctance  to  give  up  the  last  badge 


A   GRIST  PROM   THE   PRISON   MILL   OF   GAZA.       207 

of  our  Nazarite  consecration.  We  find  him  disgustingly 
in  dalliance  with  sin,  and  yet  keeping,  as  it  were,  to  the 
very  last  moment  the  outward  sign  of  his  covenant  rela- 
tion to  God.  His  vows  were  for  life.  But  in  those  cases 
where  the  Nazarite  covenant  was  for  a  limited  period  of 
life,  the  expiration  of  that  period  was  signalized  by  shaving 
the  head.  When  Samson,  therefore,  told  his  religious 
secret,  he  took  the  formal  step  to  separate  himself  wholly 
from  his  God.  Long  since  his  heart  had  fearfully  back- 
slidden, but  the  form  of  his  religion  he  still  held  to  with 
dogged  pertinacity.  The  substance  of  his  covenant  he  bad 
long  since  lost,  but  the  seal  of  it  he  now  throws  to  the 
devil.  I  do  not  wonder^  children  of  pious  parents,  that  you 
are  uneasy  if  living  in  sin  under  such  vows  as  rest  upon 
you.  Nor  do  I  wonder  that  you  are  reluctant  to  part  with 
the  last  locks  that  bind  you  to  the  God  of  your  fathers. 
But  beware,  I  beseech  you,  of  sceptical  books,  licentious 
pictures,  "scoffing  companions,  and  of  the  strange  woman, 
Forsake  not  the  house  of  God.  Cleave  to  your  mother's 
Bible.  Once  you  begin  the  way  of  the  backslider,  you  will 
find  it  is  upon  "  slippery  places,"  and  that  every  step  be- 
comes more  and  more  slippery,  and  the  precipice  darker 
and  deeper. 

"  The  mind  that  broods  o'er  guilty  woes 
Is  like  a  scorpion  girt  by  fire — 
So  writhes  the  mind  remorse  hath  riven, 
Unfit  for  earth,  undoomed  for  heaven ; 
Darkness  above,  despair  beneath, 
Around  it  flame,  within  it  death." 

We  hope  Samson  was  saved  from  Satan's  snares,  but  it 
was  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning — saved  as  by  fire. 
Shame,  remorse,  unavailing  regret,  resentment  at  Delilah's 
baseness,  and  a  crushing  sense  of  the  dishonour  he  had 
brought  upon  religion,  were  quite  enough  to  make  a  purga- 
tory for  his  soul.  It  is  here  and  in  this  world  the  tortur- 


208 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 


ings  of  the  impenitent  begin.  The  giant  judge  is  now  a 
flaming  beacon  on  the  brow  of  ruin.  Eyeless  and  grinding 
like  the  vilest  slave ;  but  his  bodily  sufferings  and  his  dis- 
grace are  nothing  to  his  mental  anguish.  The  pains  of  hell 
get  hold  of  him.  Beware,  Oh,  beware  of  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  which 

"  Weave  the  winding  sheet  of  souls, 
And  lay  them  in  the  urn  of  everlasting  death." 


THE   FINAL   CONTEST   AND    TRAGEDY.  209 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE   FINAL   CONTEST   AND   TRAGEDY. 

"  All  the  contest  is  now 

'Twixt  God  and  Dagon. 

This  day  the  Philistines  a  popular  feast 

Here  celebrate  in  Gaza ;  and  proclaim 

Great  pomp,  and  sacrifice,  and  praises  loud 

To  Dagon,  as  their  God  : — 

With  sacrifices,  triumph,  pomp  and  games, 

Of  gymnic  artists,  wrestlers,  riders,  runners, 

Jugglers,  and  dancers,  antics,  mummers,  mimics. 

Samson  is  dead. 

How  died  he  ?     Death  to  life  is  crown  or  shame." 

Milton. 

IN  Judges  xvi.  21-30,  we  have  a  remarkable  tragedy 
upon  a  feast — a  tragedy,  however,  not  as  is  often  the  case 
at  feasts,  from  the  fiends  that  lurk  in  the  wine  cups  ]  but 
as  a  judgment  of  God  upon  Dagon  and  his  followers,  in 
vindication  of  his  prime  minister,  and  for  the  deliverance  of 
his  people.  At  the  beginning  of  this  great  feast  the  Israeli- 
tish  judge  was  in  a  sad  plight.  His  eyes  have  been  put 
out,  and  loaded  with  brazen  fetters  he  is  made  to  grind  at 
the  mill.  And  yet  it  were  better  for  him  to  be  thus  era- 
ployed  than  to  have  his  eyes  and  lie  in  Delilah's  lap.  Bet- 
ter for  him  to  be  grinding  at  the  prison  mill  in  (raza,  than 
to  be  in  Sorek.  He  was  more  blind  with  his  eyes  in 
Delilah's  lap,  than  he  was  without  them  in  the  prison — a 
J8* 


210  THE   GIANT    JUDGE. 

greater  slave  when  he  served  her,  than  when  he  ground 
meal  for  the  Philistines.  He  saw  not  his  sins  till  he  had 
no  eyes.  Then  he  began  to  receive  the  true  illumination. 
Then  he  began  to  repent  and  as  he  repented  and  was  for- 
given, his  strength  began  to  return  to  him.  "  God  chas- 
teneth  us  as  soqs.  He  -loveth  us  bleeding;"  and  when  we 
have  smarted  enough,  we  shall  feel  his  loving-kindness. 
There  was  a  just  retribution  in  putting  out  his  eyes,  for 
they  were  the  instruments  of  his  sinning.  It  was  the  lust 
of  the  eye  that  led  him  astray.  But  now  this  organ  will 
lead  him  no  more  into  temptation. 

"  Howbeit  the  hair  of  his  head  began  to  grow  again,  after 
it  was  shaven."  It  was  natural  that  his  hair  should  grow 
again,  but  as  the  mere  hair  of  his  head  did  not  constitute 
essentially  his  superior  strength,  so  we  must  look  for  his 
power  in  the  coming  conflict  to  a  supernatural  source.  He 
lost  his  strength  because  by  losing  his  hair  he  had  put  him 
self  out  of  his  condition  of  Nazariteship.  He  had  violated 
his  birth  consecration.  By  disobedience  he  lost  his  strengt 
but  by  sovereign  mercy,  the  grace  of  repentance  is  given 
to  him ;  and  as  his  hair  grows,  which  was  natural,  so  his 
strength  returns,  which  is  supernatural,  and  returns  in  the 
proportion  that  he  increased  in  grace,  and  was  restored  to 
the  divine  favour.  Convinced  of  his  great  sin  in  this  whole 
affair — sensible  of  his  weakness  and  folly — again  in  his 
right  mincl,  penitent  and  earnestly  imploring  forgiveness, 
and  renewing  his  vows  with  a  deeper  sense  of  his  own  un- 
worthiness  and  dependence  upon  almighty  grace  than  ever 
before,  he  is  again  at  peace  with  God.  But  the  wretched 
Philistines  knew  nothing  of  all  this.  They  saw  not  the 
strugglings  of  his  great  soul,  and  were  ignorant  of  the 
growth  of  his  inner  life.  They  were  incapable  of  appre- 
ciating his  anguish  of  spirit,  even  if  they  perceived  it. 
And  it  is  even  so  now;  the  life  of  a  true  believer  is  in  part 


m- 
eel 
,h/ 


THE    FINAL    CONTEST   AND    TRAGEDY.  211 

hidden  from  the  world.  His  principles,  joys  and  sorrows, 
hopes  and  fears,  the  men  of  the  world  do  not  understand, 
neither  can  they,  for  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  Sam- 
son is  now  chiefly  concerned  with  his  own  heart.  The  loss 
of  his  eyes,  and  the  labour  of  turning  the  mill,  and  the  gibes 
and  coarse  laughter  of  his  old  enemies  were  nothing  to  him, 
in  comparison  with  his  soul's  conflict.  He  heeded  not  the 
outer  world.  His  whole  soul  is  now  intent  on  recovering 
God's  favour.  And  as  he  grew  in  true  repentance  and  re- 
devotement,  so  his  strength  began  to  return  to  him,  and  his 
hair,  which  was  the  sign  of  his  covenant  with  God  and  of 
his  hold  upon  omnipotent  power,  began  to  grow  also.  In 
his  recovery,  therefore,  we  have  a  correspondence  between 
the  outward  sign  and  the  inward  grace.  The  progressive 
growth  of  his  hair  intimates  his  progressive  repentance 
towards  God,  and  his  growth  in  the  divine  favour.  As  his 
recovery  progressed,  his  meditations  in  his  gloomy  cell  and 
in  his  toil  at  the  prison  mill  must  have  been  exceedingly 
varied,  and  his  feelings  intense — now  of  self-reproach,  and 
then  of  hope;  now  of  keenest  grief,  and  then  of  rejoicing 
in  the  overpowering  sense  of  divine  forgiveness,  and  in  the 
dawning  hope,  that  yet  he  should  be  able  to  signalize  in 
some  remarkable  way  the  termination  of  his  mission  as  a 
deliverer  of  Israel.  His  experience  in  his  dreary  darkness 
and  almost  hopeless  drudgery,  must  have  been,  like  his  life 
in  general,  an  extraordinary  one.  It  is  not  for  us  to  pic- 
ture out  the  tumults,  despairings,  and  hopes,  and  at  last 
rejoicings  of  his  soul.  It  was  doubtless  with  him  as  it  is 
with  believers  now;  all  his  mere  reasoning  failed,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  the  precious  promises  of 
Him  who  is  able  and  willing  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  if  we 
confess  and  -forsake  them.  For  the  blood  of  his  son  Jesus 
Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. 


212  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

II.  But  wicked  as  the  Philistines  were,  they  were  a 
religious  people,  according  to  the  religion  of  their  nation. 

"Then  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  gathered  them 
together,  for  to  offer  a  great  sacrifice  unto  Dagon  their  god, 
and  to  rejoice;  for  they  said,  Our  god  hath  delivered 
Samson  our  enemy  into  our  hand.  And  when  the  people 
saw  him,  they  praised  their  god;  for  they  said,  Our  god 
hath  delivered  into  our  hands  our  enemy  and  the  destroyer 
of  our  country,  which  slew  many  of  us." 

After  very  careful  examination  of  all  the  authorities 
within  my  reach,  I  am  confident  there  is  nothing  in  the  text 
that  is  not  abundantly  sustained  by  ancient  history  and  re- 
cent discoveries.  The  most  probable  derivation  of  the  name 
Dagon  is  from  Dag,  a  fish.  Some  heathen  writers  seem  to 
have  spoken  of  the  same  god  under  the  name  Derceto,  and 
some  by  the  name  Astarte.  At  least  they  have  ascribed  the 
same  form  and  attributes  to  a  divinity  known  by  each  of  these 
names.  According  to  Lucian*  this  god  was  first  a  fish 
with  a  man's  head,  and  then  with  a  woman's  head.  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus"|"  says  this  god  had  "the  head  of  a  woman, 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  body  was  like  a  fish/'J  Milton  both 
in  his  Paradise  Lost  and  in  Samson  Agonistes  makes  Dagon 
"  a  sea-idol,"  part  man  and  part  fish.  There  is  a  well  known 
passage  in  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry,  which  I  have  not  a 
doubt  is  an  allusion  to  the  idea  then  prevailing  of  this  sea- 

#  Lucian  De  Dea  Syra. 

f  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  ii. 

J  The  learned  Calmet  says  the  same  :  Desinet  in  piscern  mulier  formosa 
superne."  Consult  also  Selden  de  Diis  Syria,  c.  3.  de  Dagone.  -  The 
fragments  of  Berosus  referred  to  may  be  seen  in  Cory's  Fragments:  p. 
30,  as  preserved  by  Appollodorus.  See  also  Beyr's  commentary  and 
Abarbanel's  on  1  Samuel ;  Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  English 
ed.  vol.  ii,  p  466,  7.  Also  Layard's  Discoveries,  second  expedition,  New 
Yorked.  p.  344,  etc. 


THE   FINAL   CONTEST   AND    TRAGEDY.  213 

god  Dagon.  Supposing,  says  he,  a  painter  join  a  human 
head  to  a  horse's  neck;  or,  in  Francis's  translation  : 

"  Or  if  he  gave  to  view  a  beauteous  maid 
Above  the  waist,  with  every  charm  array'd, 
Should  a  foul  fish  her  lower  parts  infold, 
Would  you  not  smile  such  pictures  to  behold  ?" 

Nor  should  we  forget  the  fact  in  proof  of  this  fish -god's  wor- 
ship on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  that  there 
were  at  least  two  cities  in  Palestine,  called  Beth-Dagon, 
that  is,  the  house  or  temple  of  Dagon.  Joshua  xv.  41 ; 
xix.  27.  One  was  in  Judah  and  one  in  Asher. 

It  appears  in  the  text  that  the  captivity  of  Samson  was 
to  the  Philistines  a  proof  that  their  god  had  gained  the 
victory  over  his  God.  And  in  1  Sam.  ix.  7,  and  v.  2,  they 
are  found  indulging  in  the  same  exultation,  confident  from 
the  ark  having  fallen  into  their  hands,  that  Dagon  was 
superior  to  Jehovah.  In  like  manner  the  Assyrians,  1 
Kings  xx.  28,  fancy  that  they  have  been  defeated  because 
they  had  fought  with  the  Israelites  in  the  hill  country,  seeing 
that  the  God  of  Israel  was  a  God  of  the  hills,  whereas  their 
gods  were  gods  of  the  valleys.  And  Pharaoh's  haughty 
defiance  of  the  power  of  Jehovah  clearly  implies  that  ho 
thought  him  merely  the  national  god  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
greatly  inferior  to  his  own  gods,  and  therefore  he  would  not 
hear  his  voice,  nor  let  Israel  go.  Ex.  v.  2. 

III.  We  are  now  introduced  to  the  god  of  this  "  solemn 
feast. "  Let  us  consider  the  house  of  their  worship  and  its 
downfall. 

From  the  text  we  learn  that  the  house  in  which  the  Phi- 
listine lords  were  gathered  together  to  offer  a  great  sacri- 
fice unto  Dagon,  their  god,  was  full  of  men  and  women, 
and  that  it  stood  on  and  was  borne  up  by  "two  middle 
pillars."  But  I  think  the  labour  of  the  learned  to  prove 


214  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

that  this  house  had  but  two  pillars,  all  lost.  It  is  not  historic- 
ally true  that  the  ancients  made  any  such  structures  resting 
only  on  two  pillars.  And  so  far  as  the  history  before  us  is 
concerned,  there  may  have  been  as  many  pillars  to  the  house 
of  Dagon,  as  there  are  in  the  hall  of  the  thousand  pil- 
lars of  Constantinople,  or  in  the  great  hall  of  Karnak,  and 
yet  the  two  centre  pillars  being  the  key  to  the  building, 
may  have  so  borne  it  up,  that  it  may  be  said  to  have  stood 
on  them,  and  when  they  were  pulled  down,  the  whole  edifice 
fell  to  the  ground. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren's  explanation  of  the  structure  and 
fall  of  this  edifice  is  this.  He  says  :  "  Conceive  a  vast  roof 
of  cedar  beams  resting  at  one  end  upon  the  walls,  and  cen- 
tering at  the  other  upon  one  short  architrave  that  united 
two  cedar  pillars  in  the  middle.  One  pillar  would  not  be 
sufficient  to  unite  the  ends  of  at  least  one  hundred  beams 
that  tended  to  the  centre ;  therefore,  I  say,  there  must  have 
been  a  short  architrave  resting  upon  two  pillars,  upon  which 
all  the  beams  tending  to  the  centre  might  be  supported. 
Now  if  Samson,  by  his  miraculous  strength,  pressing  on  one 
or  both  these  pillars,  moved  it  from  its  basis,  the  whole  roof 
must  of  necessity  fall."*  These  remarks  from  so  eminent 
an  architect  are  commended  to  the  attention  of  those  who 
deny  that  the  ancients  built  such  structures  at  all,  or  if  they 
did,  that  Samson  could  have  demolished  such  a  one  in  the 
manner  described  in  the  text.  I  do  not,  however,  see  the 
necessity  of  deciding  whether  the  Philistines'  building  were 
a  temple  or  a  market  or  a  palace.  We  know  that  the  Egyp- 
tians had  temples  and  palaces  long  before  this,  and  we  have 
found  that  the  Philistines  were  of  Egyptian  origin.  It  is 
also  known  that  the  temples",  market  places,  and  palaces  were 
sometimes  all  united  together.  The  same  custom  obtained 

*  Hewlett's  ^ible,  quoted  by  Bush. 


THE  FINAL  CONTEST  AND  TRAGEDY.      215 

subsequently  in  Greece  and  Rome.  I  am  aware  that  it  is 
urged  as  an  objection  to  the  historic  verity  of  the  text,  that 
if  such  a  building  had  been  demolished  in  this  way,  greater 
prominence  would  have  been  given  to  such  a  catastrophe. 
But  the  text  does  not  state  that  all  the  building  fell.  It 
may  be  that  only  the  wing  or  protruding  portion  opposite 
to  the  grand  entrance,  in  which  the  lords  and  their  families 
were  assembled,  fell.  And  besides  how  do  we  know  that  it 
did  not  make  a  profound  sensation  in  all  the  surrounding 
country  ?  Where  are  the  annals  of  the  Philistine  satrapies 
that  say  it  did  not?  It  is  fairly  inferred  from  the  text 
that  it  did  make  a  profound  impression;  for  the  warrior 
thousands  of  Philistia  made  no  resistance  to  Samson's  breth- 
ren, who  came  and  took  away  his  body  from  the  ruins,  and 
buried  him  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  father  Manoah,  as  a 
prince  and  a  great  man  in  Israel.  At  least  we  are  bold  to 
say  that  there  is  not  a  syllable  uttered  or  fairly  implied  from 
our  record  that  is  inconsistent  with  the  known  usages  of 
that  age  and  country.  The  proof  is  complete  that  the 
ancients  constructed  vast  sacred  enclosures.  They  were 
generally  a  kind  of  amphitheatre  or  arena,  the  first  tier  of 
w^hich  usually  came  near  or  quite  together  on  pillars  at  or 
opposite  to  the  main  opening.  The  first  and  lowest  tier  con- 
verged somewhat  like  the  heels  of  a  horse-shoe  upon  the 
pillars  at  the  lower  side,  and  rose  rapidly  behind.  Within 
the  walls  and  under  the  seats  were  numerous  cloisters  or 
stalls.  The  seats  receded  in  regular  tiers  from  the  open 
court,  which  was  for  the  wild  beasts  and  wrestlers  or  gladia- 
tors. Sometimes  a  portion  of  the  court  and  of  the  seats 
was  covered  with  a  flat  or  gently  declining  roof.  These 
amphitheatres  were  the  largest  structures  of  the  ancients. 
They  were  computed  to  have  been  large  enough  to  hold  from 
fifty  to  eighty  thousand  spectators.  The  ruins  of  those  of 
Athens,  Nismes,  Verona,  and  Ro*ie,  which  still  exist,  prove 


216  THE  GIANT  JUDGE. 

their  magnitude.  There  is  no  difficulty  then  in  finding 
room  for  the  multitude  of  men  and  women  to  witness  the 
sport  of  the  Hebrew  captive,  nor  in  explaining  how  the 
building  or  a  portion  of  it,  rested  on  two  main  key  pillars. 
Nor  are  we  without  collateral  evidence.  Tacitus  in  his 
Annals  (lib.  vi.  62)  tells  us  of  an  amphitheatre  that  fell 
almost  in  the  same  way  as  this  house  of  the  Philistines. 
And  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  xxxvi.  15)  says  two  theatres  at 
Rome,  built  by  Caius  Curio,  were  large  enough  to  hold  all 
the  Roman  people,  and  yet  so  constructed  as  to  depend  upon 
a  single  hinge  or  pivot  for  support.  And  Dr.  Shaw,  in  his 
travels  and  observations  in  the  Barbary  States  and  Levant, 
says  that  he  "  frequently  saw  the  inhabitants  of  Algiers  di- 
verting themselves  upon  the  Dey's  palace;  which,  like 
many  more  of  the  same  quality  and  denomination,  has  an 
advanced  cloister  over  against  the  gate  of  the  palace,  made 
in  the  form  of  a  large  pent-house,  supported  only  by  one  or 
two  contiguous  pillars  in  the  front,  or  else  in  the  centre. 
In  such  open  structures  as  these,  the  great  officers  of  state 
distribute  justice,  and  transact  the  public  affairs  of  their 
provinces.  Here,  likewise,  they  have  their  public  enter- 
tainments, as  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  had  in  the  temple 
of  their  god.  Supposing,  therefore,  that  in  the  house  of 
Dagon  was  a  cloistered  building  of  this  kind,  the  pulling 
down  of  the  front  or  centre  pillars  which  supported  it,  would 
alone  be  attended  with  the  catastrophe  which  happened  to 
the  Philistines." 

Bearing  in  mind  these  historic  facts — that  the  ancients 
used  large  buildings  for  the  transaction  of  business,  for 
holding  public  assemblies,  for  games,  feasts,  and  religious 
ceremonies — that  such  structures  were  made  sometimes 
round,  and  sometimes  nearly  in  the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe, 
so  that  the  building  was  made  to  rest  mainly  on  two  or  a 
few  pillars  in  the  foreground  or  portico,  as  an  arch  rests 


THE    FINAL   CONTEST   AND    TRAGEDY.  217 

upon  a  key  stone — and  then  consider  the  great  weight  of 
such  an  assemblage  as  was  on  the  roof — and  bear  in  mind, 
that  Samson  pulled  or  pushed  one  of  the  pillars  with  his 
right  hand  and  the  other  with  his  left,  and  called  at  the 
same  time  upon  his  God,  who  strengthened  him;  and  we 
have  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  at  least  the  portion  of 
the  building  containing  the  lords  came  crashing  down  with 
great  violence,  killing  them  and  crushing  those  that  were 
below,  amongst  whom  was  Samson  himself.  It  is  not  at  all 
necessary  that  we  should  be  able  to  point  to  a  building  now 
in  the  East  exactly  like  this  one.  The  essential  parts  of 
such  a  structure  are  to  be  found,  and  historically  we  know 
such  buildings  were  used  by  the  ancients,  and  that  similar 
catastrophes  have  occurred  in  other  places.  Everything 
known  of  ancient  times  and  of  surrounding  nations  corro- 
borates the  truthfulness  of  the  Bible  narrative  as  an  authen- 
tic history.  It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  Sam- 
son pulled  down  the  building  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty. 
Bible  histories  are  not  incredible,  because  they  are  not  im- 
possible, nor  under  the  circumstances  are  they  improbable. 
The  hand  of  Jehovah  was  in  them.  Who  then  can  say 
they  are  impossible  ?  The  Almighty  is  never  at  a  loss  for 
agents  or  means  by  .which  to  serve  his  people  and  fulfil  his 
purposes.  Samson,  now  penitent  and  forgiven,  has  his 
commission  restored  to  him,  and  in  the  last  acts  of  his  life 
as  in  his  earlier  days,  we  find  him  again  performing  exploits 
as  God's  agent. 

IV.  The  superstition  of  the  Philistines  misinterpreted 
the  cause  of  their  success  against  Samson.  It  was  not  be- 
cause their  god  had  prevailed  over  Samson's  God,  but 
because  Samson  had  disobeyed  his  God.  It  was  owing  to 
his  sinning,  and  not  to  Dagon's  superiority,  that  he  was  help- 
less in  their  hands.  The  barbarians  of  Melita  fell  into  a 

similar  mistake  in  regard  to  Paul.     It  is  the  nature  of  all 
19 


218  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

superstitions  to  make  mistakes  by  arousing  false  fears,  lead- 
ing to  wrong  conclusions,  and  ascribing  effects  to  causes 
which  do  not  exist.  According  to  their  theory  and  practice 
on  this  occasion,  when  Samson  smote  them  hip  and  thigh 
with  a  great  slaughter,  and  when  he  slew  them  "  heaps  upon 
heaps  with  the  jaw-bone,  of  an  ass,"  they  should  have  said, 
"  Our  god  has  failed  us."  When  smarting  under  Samson's 
blows,  they  should  have  said,  Where  is  now  our  god  ?  Why 
does  he  allow  our  enemy  to  prevail  ?  But  to  their  praise 
be  it  said,  we  find  them  more  ready  to  bless  than  to  curse 
their  deity.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  their  idolatry 
and  cruelty,'  they  cannot  be  charged  with  ingratitude. 
They  did  not  forget  to  ascribe  their  success  to  their  god. 
They  knew  that  it  was  Delilah  that  had  betrayed  Sainson 
into  their  hands,  yet  as  they  shouted  the  praises  of  Dagon, 
they  said,  "  Our  god  'hath  delivered  our  enemy  into  our 
hands."  In  their  gratitude  they  are  a  model  to  us.  Gener- 
ally men  claim  all  their  prosperity  as  due  to  themselves, 
but  cast  the  blame  of  their  miscarriages  upon  their  bad 
luck,  which  is  their  way  of  accusing  Providence.  This  is 
both  unjust  and  sinful. 

As  on  a  former  occasion,  so  here,  their  shout  was  Sam- 
son's battle  cry.  No  doubt,  their  boisterous  praise  of  Dagon 
was  a  great  mortification  to  him.  He  knew  they  ascribed 
their  success  against  him  to  their  god,  and  regarded  his  fall 
and  disgrace  as  a  proof  that  Dagon  had  triumphed  over 
Jehovah.  Ah  !  the  dishonour  that  he  felt  he  had  brought 
upon  his  religion  was  his  keenest  grief.  His  captivity, 
blindness,  and  bodily  sufferings  were  nothing  to  him  in 
comparison  with  his  agony  for  having  sinned  against  the 
living  and  true  God.  It  was  true  then,  and  it  is  true  now, 
the  heathen  judge  of  the  Christian's  God,  not  so  much  by 
his  creed  and  catechism,  as  by  his  conduct  and  condition  in 
the  world.  The  manners  and  modes  of  dealing  with  the 


THE   FINA*L   CONTEST   AND   TRAGEDY.  219 

heathen  practised  by  merchants  and  travellers,  form  the 
heathen  idea  of  Christianity  more  directly  than  any  other 
source  of  influence. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  when  their  hearts  were  merry, 
that  they  said,  Call  for  Samson  that  he  may  make  us  sport. 
And  they  called  for  Samson  out  of  the  prison-house, 
and  he  made  them  sport :  a,nd  they  set  him  between  the 
pillars." 

Milton  says  Samson  at  first  refused  to  attend  their  feasfc 
to  make  sport  before  Dagon,  but  being  at  length  persuaded 
inwardly  that  it  was  an  occasion  from  God,  he  went.  They 
had  power  to  compel  his  attendance  whether  he  would  or 
not.  He  was  powerless  in  their  hands.  It  is  not  stated 
here  what  kind  of  sport  he  was  to  make.  The  Septuagint 
and  Josephus  think  their  purpose  was  to  insult  him,  and 
make  him  a  laughing-stock.  According  to  the  Septuagint, 
"  they  buffeted  him."  Josephus  says :  "  He  was  brought 
out  that  they  might  insult  him  in  their  cups."  At  all 
events,  they  would  have  no  other  sport  but  from  the  great 
Hebrew.  He  who  had  been  their  terror,  must  now  be  their 
play.  Every  man,  woman,  and  boy  could  now  laugh  at  the 
blind  hero,  that  had  once  been  their  most  fearful  enemy. 
Scorn  is  added  to  misery;  insult  to  injury.  No  doubt 
Samson  was  ready  to  wish  himself  deaf  as  well  as  blind, 
that  he  might  not  hear  their  cruel  jests  and  horrid  blas- 
phemies. Whether  Samson  amused  them  first  with  some 
attempts  at  extraordinary  strength,  as  he  was  made  the  butt 
of  their  jests  or  not,  he  did  at  last  make  sport  for  them 
with  a  vengeance.  In  the  East  it  was  common  at  their 
feasts  to  have  athletic  sports. 

But  now  that  the  heathen  have  triumphed,  will  not  God 
arise  ?  Now  that  Samson  has  repented,  as  did  Peter  with 
many  bitter  tears,  and  is  forgiven — and  his  hair  has  grown, 
and  he  is  again  in  covenant  with  his  God,  how  shall 


220  THE    GIANT   JUDGtf. 

his  enemies  escape'/  For  if  judgment  begin  in  God's  own 
house  and  upon  his  own  chosen  servants,  what  shall  be  the 
end  of  the  ungodly,  who  obey  not  his  voice  ?  Surely  it  is 
the  hour  of  long  pent  up  and  terrible  vengeance.  May  not 
Samson  now  vindicate  the  superiority  of  Jehovah  over  the 
false  Philistine  god  ?  Yes ;  the  whole  scene  is  now  changed. 
The  contest  is  no  longer  between  the  Hebrew  judge  and  the 
Philistine  lords,  but  between  Dagon  and  Jehovah.  The 
battle  is  now  to  rage  on  Mount  Olympus,  and  Troy  is  to  be 
lost  or  won  in  heaven,  and  not  on  the  dusty  plains  below. 
From  Hebrews  xi.  it  is  clear  that  Samson's  prayer  was  the 
prayer  of  sincere  faith.  It  was  through  faith  he  prevailed. 
If  he  had  not  been  truly  penitent,  and  had  not  been  accepted 
>f  God,  his  last  prayer  could  not  have  been  successful.  His 
struggle  of  mind  must  have  been  great.  But  out  of  despair 
he  gathered  hope,  as  his  enemies  increased  in  their  boister- 
ous blasphemy.  The  case  seemed  a  desperate  one.  The 
temple  is  full  of  men  and  women,  making  themselves  merry 
at  his  expense,  and  in  blaspheming  the  living  God.  He 
begins  again  to  feel  the  Spirit  of  God  stirring  him  as  in 
years  long  since  past.  He  remembers  that  the  great  com- 
mission from  heaven  announced  for  him  before  he  was  born, 
was  to  begin  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  Philistines.  He 
asks  himself,  May  it  not  be  that  now  I  shall  be  able  to  vin- 
dicate the  superiority  of  God  Almighty  over  this  wretched 
idol,  whom  his  enemies  are  worshipping  ?  May  it  not  be 
that  for  this  hour  I  have  been  spared,  and  that  now  I  may 
most  wonderfully  redeem  my  great  commission  ?  u  And  he 
called  upon  the  Lord,  and  said,  0  Lord  God,  remember  me, 
I  pray  thee,  and  strengthen  me,  I  pray  thee,  only  this  once, 
O  God.  And  he  took  hold  of  the  two  middle  pillars  upon 
which  the  house  stood  and  on  which  it  was  borne  up,  of  the 
one  with  his  right  hand,  and  of  the  other  with  his  left,  and 
said,  Let  me  .die  with  the  Philistines." 


THE   FINAL   CONTEST   AND   TRAGEDY.  221 

Solemnly  re-dedicating  himself  to  God,  consecrating  his 
life  as  a  patriot  and  a  martyr,  if  God  would  now  be  pleased 
to  accept  it,  as  the  last,  best,  and  only  offering  he  had  to 
make — praying  this  once  more  to  be  heard,  and  that  he 
might  die  with  the  Philistines,  fulfilling  in  his  last  act  and 
dying  moment  the  terrible  mission  for  which  he  had  been 
raised  up — as  he  prayed  he  bowed  himself  with  all  his 
might,  and  the  house  fell  upon  the  lords  and  upon  all  the 
people  that  were  therein.  "  So  the  dead  which  he  slew  at 
his  death  were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life." 
Neither  Leonidas  nor  Lord  Nelson  had  a  death  so  terribly 
sublime.  'His  was  not  the  suicide's  death,  but  that  of  a 
martyr  who  consecrates  himself  to  death,  if  such  is  God's 
will,  in  the  performance  of  duty  or  the  maintenance  of 
truth.  The  result  proves  that  God  did  graciously  conde- 
scend to  hear  his  prayer,  and  to  accept  his  consecration 
For  without  direct  supernatural  power  he  could  not  have  thus 
prevailed  over  his  enemies. 

V.^It  has  been  objected  that  Samson's  last  prayer  is  not 
the  prayer  of  a  dying  Christian — that  it  breathes  the  spirit 
of  revenge,  which  is  wholly  unbecoming  a  pious  man  at  any 
time,  and  much  less  so  in  his  dying  moments.  To  this  we 
reply  : 

1.  However  comforting  it  may  be  to  a  dying  man  him- 
self and  to  his  surrounding  friends  to  utter  nothing  but  pious 
words,  ecstatic  hopes,  and  fervent  supplications — however 
desirable  it  may  be  to  die  in  the  full  assurance  of  heaven, 
almost  in  sight  of  the  celestial  city,  as  Stephen  did — still  such 
experiences  and  dying  deliverances  are  not  required  to  prove 
our  acceptance  with  God.  A  man  maybe  a  godly  man,  and 
die  without  such  ecstatic  joys.  The  operations  of  the  di- 
vine Spirit  are  manifold.  Our  experience  and  utterances  of 
iu ward  life  are  moulded  very  much  by  our  temperaments  and 
style  of  education.  Holiness  in  essential  to  the  enjoyment 
19* 


222  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

of  God.  And  holiness  is  a  habitude,  rather  than  a  spasm 
or  temporary  emotion;  and  ordinarily  this  spiritual  habi- 
tude is  the  growth  of  a  life  of  prayer  and  godliness  under 
the  culture  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  The  life  and  faith,  and 
not  the  feelings  of  a  man  in  his  dying  moments,  are  to  be 
taken  as  exponents  of  his  state  in  the  sight  of  God. 

2.  Samson  was  educated  out  of  the  law  of    the    Lord, 
which  required  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." 
Retaliation   was  his   catechism.      I    do   not    now  consider 
why  such  was  the  law  of  Moses.     The  fact  is  certain.     But 
it  is  equally  certain  that  our  Lord  alludes  to  this  very  law 
of  Moses,  and  changes  it,  saying,  It  shall  no  longer  be  "  an 
eye  for  an  eye ;"  but  I  say  unto  you,  Requite  not  evil  with 
evil ;  pray  for  your  enemies ;    forgive  them  ;  do  good  to 
them  that  despitefully  use  you,  that  you   may  become  the 
children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven.     Samson   had 
not  then  before  him,  as  we  have,  the  example  of  the  meek 
and  suffering  God-man.     He  had  not  his  history  in  the  gar- 
den, and  in  Pilate's  hall,  and  on   the  cross.     He  had  not 
heard  the  prayer,  nor  any  such  an  one  :  "  Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."     It  is  not  fair, 
therefore,  for  us  to  pronounce  on  the  prayer  of  the  penitent 
and  dying  judge  from  our  stand-point  of  gospel  light,  but 
according  to  the  light  of  Moses's  dispensation.     We  should 
not  expect  him  to  die  as  Paul  did.     His  mission  and  char- 
acter belong  wholly  to  a  different  dispensation. 

3.  We  must  remember  that  Samson's  prayer  was  in  keep- 
ing with  his  divine  commission.     As  a  soldier,  he  dies  in 
the  heat  of  the  battle  with  his  armour  on.    If  it  was  right 
for  him  to  bear  his  commission  to  destroy  the  Philistines  for 
the  vindication  of  God,  and  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from 
their  oppressors,  then  his  death  was  in  the   way  of  duty. 
He  was  sent  to  execute  divine  judgments  on  the  oppressors 
of  God's  people.      He  did   not,  therefore,   throw  his   life 


THE    FINAL   CONTEST    ANI>   TRAGEDY.  223 

away.  He  did  not  lay  rash  hands  upon  himself.  He  did  not 
know  what  the  final  result  would  be,  but,  as  every  other  soldier 
who  goes  into  battle  for  his  country  and  for  the  truth  of  God, 
he  puts  his  life  in  jeopardy.  He  takes  it  in  his  hands,  ready 
at  any  moment  to  offer  it  up  as  a  sacrifice.  As  his  hair  had 
grown,  his  experience  of  divine  grace  had  increased  ;  until 
now,  when  God's  enemies  were  at  the  very  highest  point 
of  exultation  and  defiance,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  moved 
him  once  more — first,  to  say,  "0  Lord  God,  remember  me, 
I  pray  thee  ;  only  this  once,  0  God,"  and  then  moved  him. 
to  lean  against  the  pillars  and  take  hold  of  them,  and  at 
the  same  time  stirred  him  up  to  further  prayer,  saying,  If 
such  is  now  the  divine  will,  in  fulfilling  my  commission,  let 
me  even  die  with  the  Philistines  And  the  Lord  heard  his 
prayer,  accepted  the  offering  of  his  body  and  soul,  and  in 
his  death  he  slew  more  than  in  all  his  life. 


" Samson  hath  quit  himself 

Like  Samson,  and  heroicly  hath  finished 
A  life  heroic." 


224  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   EPILOGUE   AND   IT$   TEACHINGS. 

"  Like  a  visitant 

^      From  the  other  world,  he  comes  as  if  to  haunt        _   ' 
Thy  guilty  soul  with  dreams  of  lost  delight, 
Long  lost  to  all  but  memory's  aching  sight; — 

As  when  the  spirit  of  our  youth 

Returns  in  sleep,  sparkling  with  all  the  truth 
And  innocence  once  ours,  and  leads  us  back 
In  mournful  mockery,  o'er  the  shining  track 
Of  our  young  life,  and  points  out  every  ray 
Of  hope  and  peace  we've  lost  upon  the  way." 

Lalla  Rookh. 

THE  late  venerable  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton',  N.  J.,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  perfect  and  well  balanced  men  as  a 
scholar,  theologian,  and  Christian  gentleman,  this  country 
has  ever  produced,  used  to  say,  that  if  a  student  had  sense 
enough  to  bear  it,  it  was  an  advantage  to  put  him  to  study- 
ing a  text  book  that  required  some  corrections;  for  the  de- 
tection of  the  errors  and  their  correction  helped  amazingly 
to  keep  up  the  attention,  and  draw  out  his  own  resources. 
There  is  certainly  such  a  thing  as  being  so  straight  as  to 
lean  over..  There  may  be  so  much  straining  of  rules  as  to 
destroy  all  the  benefits  of  discipline.  Children  were  made 
to  play  as  well  as  study,  to  laugh  heartily  as  well  as  to  think 
seriously.  The  bow  always  bent  is  sometimes  converted 
into  a  strait  jacket.  To  laugh  well  is  medicine  for  the 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND    ITS   TEACHINGS.  225 

body  and  the  mind,  and  to  be  able  to  wonder  well  is  a  great 
blessing.  One  of  the  old  fathers,  (and  may  his  shadow  never 
be  less,)  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  says :  "  The  beginning  of 
truth  is  to  wonder,  for  this  proceeds  from  conscious  igno- 
rance/' The  old  Stagyrite  had  taught  almost  the  same 
thing  before  the  Alexandrine  was  born,  when  he  said,  It  is 
by  wondering  men  begin  to  love  philosophy  and  to  grow 
wise.  (Aristotle.  Metaph.  1,  2.)  It  is  true,  however,  that 
there  is  a  kind  of  foolish  wonder,  that  does  not  promise  much 
good; — but  even  that  is  not  so  hopeless  as  ignorance  so  pro- 
found as  to  be  unconscious  of  its  own  existence.  It  were 
better  men  should  be  astrologers  than  that  they  should  be 
so  stupid  as  not  to  know  that  there  are  any  stars  over  their 
heads.  I  should  rather  undertake  to  teach  those  that  are 
stone-blind,  than  those  who  are  so  stupid  and  indolent,  that 
they  will  not  open  their  eyes;  for  the  stone-blind  feel 
and  acknowledge  their  blindness,  and  may  learn  to  read 
without  eyes ;  whereas  the  others  are  so  self-sufficient  and 
content  with  their  blindness  that  they  either  deny  that  they 
are  blind  at  all,  or  declare  it  best  to  be  blind.  Nothing  is 
so  hopeless  as  ignorance  too  complete  to  wonder ;  for  then 
there  are  no  errors  that  may  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  truth. 
If  the  beginning  of  wisdom  is  to  fear  God  and  know  our- 
selves, then  may  we  say  that  the  faculty  to  wonder  is  a 
shadow  of  something  beautiful  and  good  to  come.  I  do  not 
belong  to  the  school  that  would  blot  out  from  our  juvenile 
literature  the  seven  wise  men  of  Gotham,  Blue  Beard,  Jack 
the  Giant  Killer,  Robinson  Crusoe,  the  Arabian  Nights, 
and  fairy  tales  in  general.  By  no  means.  In  judicious 
hands  this  species  of  literature  is  invaluable  for  training 
and  purifying  the  youthful  mind.  It  were  far  better  to  ex- 
cite the  love  of  the  marvellous,  and  even  of  the  terribly 
sublime  than  of  the  gross  and  sensual.  After  the  nursery 
period  well  employed,  some  five  or  six  authors  are  quite 


226  THE   GIANT  JUDGE. 

enough  to  train   the  intellect  and  heart.     Who  needs  to 
know  more  than  he  can  learn  from  the  Bible,  Homer,  Dante,     ^ 
Shakspeare,  Bacon,  and  Milton,  and  a  few  standard  histo-     ^ 
rians? 

The  sacred  story  of  Israel's  giant  judge  is  a  wonderful 
one,  but  it  is  as  true  as  marvellous.     It  is  a  simple,  earnest, 
straight  forward  narrative  of  a  man — a  real   man,  and  of 
•what  he  did,  and  of  what  befel  him  in  just  such  a  world  ^?  % 
as  we  live  in,  and  among  men,  women,  and  children  exactly  f 
such  as  we  are.     We  believe  the  Bible  Samson  is  the  Origi-  S 
nal  of  all  the  stories  of  Hercules  that  fill  so  many  pages  of 
heathen  literature.     And  by  exciting  attention  to  his  life, 
we  hope,  on  the  love  of  the  wonderful,  to  plant  a  lever  that 
shall  turn  the  whole  heart  to  truth.     Joseph,  Daniel,  Nehe- 
miah,  and  various  other  Bible  heroes  are  more  to  our  liking; 
but,  if  "  there  is,"  as  the  bard  of  Avon  says,  "  a  history  in 
all  men's  lives,"  I  fancy  Samson's  is  not  an  exception,  and 
as  his  biography  has  been  given  to  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
it  is  our  duty  to  remove  objections  to  it,  and  see  what  it 
teaches  us.     As  already  intimated,  Samson's  acts  are  more 
for  our  wonder  than  for  our  imitation  j  nevertheless  impor- 
tant principles  are  unfolded  in  his  history.     Much  as  Mil- 
ton's Samson  Agonistes  is  to  be  admired  as  a  whole,  it  seems 
to  us,  he  wholly  fails  to  appreciate  his  character.    The  dying 
speech  which  he  puts  into  his  mouth  as  he  pulls  down  the 
temple  is  not  true  to  the  text,  nor  worthy  of  the  occasion. 
It  falls  far  below  our  idea  of  Samson  in  that  awful  moment. 
His  enemies  were  in  force  around  him,  mocking  him  and 
his  God.     He  knew  that  it  was  their  custom  on  such  occa- 
sions, after  they  had  satisfied  themselves  with  feastings  and 
sport,  to  sacrifice  their  chief  prisoner   to  their  gods.     In 
this  great  extremity,  therefore,  he  betook  himself  to  prayer 
for  grace  to  triumph  in  a  martyr's  death,  if  the  Lord  would 
be  pleased  to  grant  him  such  an  honour.     Having  eyes  now 


THE  EPILOGUE  AND   ITS   TEACHINGS.  227 

to  see  Him  who  is  invisible,  he  said  :  "  0  Lord  God,  I  pray 
thee  think  upon  me ;  0  Lord  God,  I  beseech  thee  strengthen 
me  at  this  time  only.  For  thy  great  name's  sake — for  thy 
glory  among  the  heathen,  help  me,  0  Lord,  help  me  this 
one  time."  It  was  zeal  for  the  divine  glory,  and  to  retrieve 
the  honour  of  the  God  of  his  fathers,  that  had  been  tar- 
nished by  his  fall,  that  made  him  so  anxious  now  to  die  in 
such  a  way  as  to  fulfil  in  his  death,  more  fully  than  he  had 
done,  in  his  life,  the  mission  for  which  he  had  been  raised 
up.  As  he  knew  he  was  now  about  to  die,  he  seized  this 
as  the  last  opportunity  to  deliver  Israel,  and  show  that 
Jehovah  and  not  Dagon  was  the  true  and  living  God.  In 
his  death  scene,  therefore,  we  see  fast  by  his  side  again  the 
presence  of  the  Angel — 

"  Who  from  his  father's  field 
Rode  up  in  flames 

From  off  the  altar,  where  an  offering  burned, 
As  in  a  fiery  column  charioting." 

When  dying  we  see  him  filled  again  with — 

"  That  Spirit  that  first  rushed  upon  him  in  the  camp  of  Dan." 

The  lordly  city  of  Gaza  speaks  then  to  us  historically, 
from  a  period  beyond  which  the  memory  of  man  runneth 
not.  It  was  once  the  treasure-house  of  a  Persian  conqueror, 
as  indeed  its  name  is  supposed  to  signify.  But  how 
its'  name  came  to  be  prophetic  of  its  treasures,  we  know  not. 
True,  Philistine  Sheikhs,  Arabian  Emirs,  Assyrian,  Per- 
sian, Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Roman  conquerors  and  kings 
have  battled  for  its  gates.  Saladin  the  magnificent,  and 
Richard  the  lion-heart,  and  Napoleon  the  great  took  some 
of  life's  stern  lessons  under  the  skies  that  still  look  down 
on  Gaza.  Ancient  Gaza  is  all  in  ruins — shapeless,  name- 
less ruins — capitals,  architraves,  columns,  cornices,  and 


228  THE  GIAN1    JUDGE. 

marble  floors,  the  cedar,  fir,  and  acacia,  alabaster,  and  gra- 
nite, that  once  echoed  to  the  shouts  of  the  worshippers  of 
the  great  fish-god,  though  now  unlettered,  still  utter  forth  a 
loud  and  distinctly  articulate  voice.  Its  stores  ,of  wine  and 
oil,  and  treasures  of  jewels  and  costly  spices  are  no  more  j 
but  Gaza  still  has  for  us  treasures  more  valuable — lessons 
of  instruction  and  warning — not  only  to  those  who  are 
driving  through  life  with  a  Jehu  speed  in  fulfilling  the  lusts 
of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  the  mind ;  but  for  all,  old  and 
young,  and  of  every  class.  The  marvellous  career  of  the 
giant  judge,  and  his  tragical  end  is  a  lesson  for  our  every- 
day life. 

1.  Samson's  life  illustrates  God's  long-suffering  and  mercy. 
When  evil  doers  are  allowed  for  a  time  to  go  on  in  pros- 
perity, they  should  not  presume,  for  there  is  a  righteous 
God,  that  judgeth  in  the  earth;  and  when  his  judgments 
fall  on  the  guilty,  he  will  cut  short  his  awful  work  in  ter- 
rible righteousness.     But  mercy  is  remembered  amidst  de- 
served wrath.     The  penitent  is  not  therefore  to  despair,  for 
God  is  merciful  as  well  as  just.     Samson  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Philistines  j  even  the  ark  of  God  may  be  in 
the  camp  of  the   uncircumcised,  and  be  brought  into  the 
temple  of  their  great  Dagon  ;  but  Jehovah  is  still  supreme 
over  all  the  gods.     His  arm  is  still  omnipotent.     There  is 
indeed  no  god  but  God.     The  idols  of  the  heathen  are  all 
vanity  and  lies.     The  ruins  of  the  house  of  the  Philistine 
lords,  and  the  dismembered  image  of  Dagon  in  his  own 
temple  before  Jehovah's  ark,  are  directly  in  proof,  that  their 
god  is  not  as  our  God,  even  our  enemies  themselves  being 
judges. 

2.  Jehovah  is  the  only  sovereign.     His  government  is 
supreme  over  all  tribes  and  nations.     The  history  of  the 
Canaanites,  Philistines,  and  Hebrews  proves  that  it  is  Jeho- 
vah's pleasure  to  take  cognizance  of  all  his  creatures  on 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND   ITS   TEACHINGS.  229 

CL'.rth — to  observe  and  rule  over  them  as  families,  peoples, 
and  individuals.  As  all  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  turn  round 
when  the  wheel  revolves,  so  a  general  providence  necessa- 
rily implies  a  particular  oversight  of  all  the  universe.  How 
else  could  there  have  been  any  prophecy,  or  fulfilment  of  pro- 
mises ?  In  the  prophecies  fulfilled,  and  in  those  yet  to  be 
accomplished,  we  find  an  individual  and  a  national  applica- 
tion. The  prophecies  referred  sometimes  in  part  to  the 
personal  history  of  the  individual,  but  generally  or  chiefly 
to  his  posterity.  This  is  true  of  Abraham,  Ishmael,  Esau, 
and  Jacob.  Hence  the  distinctness  with  which  the  line 
of  their  descendants  was  preserved.  It  were  a  great  gain 
for  the  politics  and  economics  of  communities  and  nations 
if  the^  providence  of  God  were  more  distinctly  recognized. 
Every  chapter  of  our  national  history  is  replete  with  proofs 
of  God's  presence.  His  hand  has  written  all  our  history. 

3.  Again  it  appears  that  God  governs  the  world  upon 
^..,_  eternal  principles — and  not  from  fancy  or  passion.  These 
principles  are  still  in  actual  operation.  A  priori,  we  should 
argue  that  such  must  be  the  divine  government  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  historically  we  find  it  pre-eminently  so.  The 
Creator  is  as  really  supreme  over  modern  nations,  as  over 
ancient  nations.  Jehovah  was  as  truly  the  God  of  Wash- 
ington as  of  Moses,  only  Moses  was  his  lieutenant  in  an  age 
of  miracles.  It  is  as  true  now  as  it  was  then,  that  sin  de- 
files a  land,  and  that  God  blesses  obedience  and  punishes 
disobedience  to  his  laws.  Divine  laws  in  morals  are  as  im- 
mutable as  in  physics.  God  is  just  as  supreme  in  the  streets 
of  the  city  as  in  the  pathways  of  the  planets.  His  ear  is 
as  open  to  prayer  now,  as  it  ever  was  in  Solomon's  tem- 
ple. And  happiness  everywhere,  in  heaven  and  earth,  is 
nothing  but  a  full  hearted,  cheerful  harmony  with  the  will 
of  God.  In  keeping  his  commandments,  there  is  great  re- 
ward. 

20 


230  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

4.  When  patience  has  done  its  perfect -work — when  (lie 
hour  of  retribution  has  fully  come,  then  there  is  no  escape 
from  the  Almighty.     The  universe   itself  in  ruins  and  in 
heaps  upon  heaps  upon  the  guilty  could  not  hide  them  from 
the  all-seeing  eye,  nor  prevent  Him  from  bringing  them  to 
judgment.     The  old  world,  the  Egyptians,  the  cities  .of  the 
plain,  and  the  history  of  the  chosen  people,  as  well  as  of  the 
Philistines  and  Cauaanites,  prove  this. 

5.  But  Samson's  life  illustrates  divine  laws  in  their  ap- 
plication as  well  as  in  theory.     In  solving  the  riddle  of  his 
character  we  have  truth  objective    and    subjective.      The 
glimpses  we  get  of  his  spiritual  life  are  sad  enough.     His 
weakness  and  inconsistencies  are  so  mortifying  as  to  be  almost 
incredible.     His  infatuation  for  Philistine  women  rendered 
him  apparently  blind  to  their  heathenism  and  their  enmity 
towards   Israel.      Philistine    maids    frequently  vanquished 
the  champion  that  was  to  deliver  Israel   out  of  the  hands 
of  their  oppressive  countrymen.     An  old  writer  very  nearly 
expresses  the  facts  of  this  history,  when  he  says,  it  was  not 
so  much  Samson  that  overcame  the  Philistine  men,  as  Phi- 
listine women  that  conquered  Samson. 

6.  Sin  is  an  awfully  steep  precipice,  and  as  slippery  as 
steep.     I  know  we  are  ready  to  cry  out  at  Samson's  stupid- 
ity, and  Delilah's   impudent  treachery.     And  truly  never 
was  a  man  so  overcome  by  flagons  of  wine,  as  this  Nazarite 
was  by  his  love  for  Delilah.     We  are  almost  ready  to  think 
Samson  must  have  been  void  of  common  sense,  when,  after 
she  had  betrayed  him  three  times,  he  should  listen  to  her 
fourth  proposal,  and    actually  yield.      And  yet  are  there 
none  of  you,  that  have  yielded  to  temptation  not  only  three 
times,  and  then  a  fourth 'time,  but  ten  times  ten  ?     Is  not 
every  .transgressor  against  God's  laws  as  stupid  as  our  in- 
fatuated judge?     Sinful  pleasures  lodged  and  entertained 
in  our  bosoms  are  as  dangerous  and  as  treacherous  as  Deli- 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND   ITS   TEACHINGS.  231 

lah.  In  our  better  moments  we  know  they  aim  at  nothing 
less  than  our  destruction.  We  know  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death,  and  yet  we  yield  !  Every  one  that  yields  to  the  in- 
toxicating cup,  to  the  strange  woman's  smiles,  or  to  the  demon 
of  fraud  or  of  gambling,  is  like  Samson  sleeping  in  Delilah's 
lap,  to  wake  up  bereft  of  strength  and  peace  of  mind. 
Thrice  the  armed  Philistines  came  out  of  their  hiding-place 
to  bind  him,  and  yet  he  yields  to  the  fourth  temptation. 
Oh,  what  madness  !  Fly  at  once.  Resist  the  devil  and  he 
will  flee  from  you.  But  if  you  parley  with  him,  he  will 
bind  you  fast  in  his  chains. 

All  sins  hang  together  like  links  in  a  chain.  Delilah  was 
a  heathen.  She  had  not  the  fear  of  God  before  her  eyes, 
and  as  she  wanted  virtue,  it  is  not  strange  that  she  was  per- 
fidious.  And  so  like  india-rubber  is  conscience  now-a-days, 
that,  if  it  is  used  at  all,  it  is  easily  stretched,  and  though 
hard  to  be  washed  clean,  it  is  nevertheless  often  turned. 
So  naturally  and  lovingly  do  sinful  ways  run  together  and 
follow  each  other,  that  men  do  often  educate  their  conscience 
to  call  good  evil,  and  evil  good  :  and 

"  Compound  for  sins  they  are  inclined  to, 
By  damning  those  they  have  no  mind  to." 

If  in  straining  at  a  gnat,  they  do  not  swallow  a  camel  the 
first  time,  they  will  soon  be  able,  from  repeated  trials,  to 
swallow  the  whole  caravan,  gnats,  and  all.  The  liar  is  not 
satisfied  till  he  steals  ;  and  the  thief  soon  kills.  The 
drunkard  is  as  lewd  as  he  is  full  of  wine,  and  she  that  traf- 
fics with  her  personal  charms  is  as  false  as  she  -is  vile.  And 
he  that  dwells  with  a  concubine,  to  avoid  the  manly  respon- 
sibilities of  a  lawful  family,  finds  in  the  end  that  instead 
of  having  a  jewel  around  his  neck,  he  has  bound  himself, 
soul  and  body,  to  a  burning  millstone,  that  is  dragging  him 
hissing  down  to  the  pit.  A  person  given  up  to  one  sin  ia 


ill     j 
jf 

as/ 


232  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

sold  to  iniquity.  By  yielding  to  one  sin,  a  greater  suscep- 
tibility is  created  for  others,  and  in  the  same  proportion  he 
is  shorn  of  strength  to  resist  temptation  and  to  maintain 
his  hold  on  virtue.  He  that  does  not  make  it  a  matter  of 
conscience  to  abide  by  right  principles  in  everything  and 
everywhere,  is  not  to  be- trusted  in  anything. 

7.  We  see  that  an  ill-balanced  character  is  a  sadly  de- 
fective one.     If  Samson  had  been   as  prudent   as  he  was 
strong,  as  pious  as  he  was  patriotic,  what  a  splendid  hero 
he  would  have  been  !     But  symmetry  of  character  is  also 
sadly  wanting  in  modern  times.     Some  are  remarkable  for 
their  zeal,  who  make  their  public  concern  for  the   conver- 
sion of  men   cover  their   want  of  attention   to    their  own 
families.     But  can  a  man  be  called  of  God  to  one  duty  at 
the   expense  of  another — and  in  this  case  of  a  prior  and 
paramount  one  ?     Others  are  remarkable  for  their  denomi- 
national or  church  zeal,  but  their  daily  walk  is  so  irregular, 
that  even  when  they  are  not  absolutely  guilty  of  moral  de- 
linquencies in  the  sight   of  the   law,  their  advocacy  of  re- 
ligion is  not  a  recommendation.     Others  are  text-quoting 
defenders  of  the   Bible,  but  the   light  that  is  in  them  is 
smothered.     The  word  of  God  dwells  in  them,  but.  is  not 
fruitful.      They  are  cold    as   icicles.      Another  takes  the 
Bible  for  his  directory.     He   loves  its  truth,  and  he  has 
some  experimental  knowledge  of  divine  grace  in  his  heart; 
but  he  is  so  ill-tempered,  so  peevish,  so  irritable,  that  the 
symmetry  of  his  character  is  destroyed.     Men   admit  his 
sincerity  of  purpose,  but  wonder  that  so  good  a  man  should 
be  so  weak  as  to  allow  himself  to  be  carried  away  with  pas- 
sion.    Oh,  how  much  would  the  church  gain  if  all  its  mem- 
bers were  complete  in  Christ ! 

8.  In  Samson's  life  we  see   that  constitutional  sins  are 
peculiarly  dangerous.     It  is  true  God  employs  men  as  his 
agents,  who  are  not  perfect.     Even  great  men  are  not  with- 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND   ITS    TEACHINGS.  233 

out  errors.  Believers  on  earth  are  not  saints  glorified.  In 
the  course  of  this  work  it  has  been  intimated  several  times 
that  we  have  only  a  skeleton  history  of  the  giant  judge. 
Of  long  periods  we  have  no  memoir  at  all,  and  of  great 
achievements  we  have  but  a  simple  record  of  the  fact.  His 
faults  are  detailed.  His  good  deeds  not  so  fully  chronicled. 
If  we  may  say  so  without  irreverence,  our  narrative  does 
not  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  his  exploits,,  but  simply  to  set 
forth  how  divine  sovereignty  overruled  them.  His  attach- 
ment to  the  Tinmite,  his  fall  at  Gaza,  and  his  blind  affec- 
tion for  Delilah,  and  his  conflicts  with  the  Philistines  are 
recorded  so  far  as  seemed  to  be  necessary  to  furnish  us  with 
the  proof  that  the  promise  to  his  parents  was  faithfully 
kept,  and  no  more.  It  seems  almost  as  if  infinite  wisdom 
here  illustrated  how  sorry  an  agent  might  perform  mighty 
deeds,  and  how  sovereign  grace  could  at  last  reign  where  sin 

had  abounded.  B*nc*>fc  UfefW 

9.  Samson's  life  very  properly  leads  us  to  the  purity, 
sacredness,  and  stability  of  the  marriage  relation.  The 
family  is  the  foundation  stone  for  national  well-being.  We 
must  at  any  price,  at  any  and  every  sacrifice,  preserve  our 
Christian  homes,  as  the  fountains  of  principle  and  piety 
And  never  was  there  an  age  nor  a  people  with  whom  so 
much  depended  upon  the  maintenance  of  sound  principles 
and  of  true  religion  in  the  family  as  with  us.  If  we  yield 
here,  all  is  lost.  Our  public  institutions  will  be  as  the  new 
cords  on  Samson's  arms,  mere  cinders,  if  the  principles  of 
high  morality  and  true  religion  are  not  taught  in  our  homes. 
Thorough  training  arid  instruction  must  be  given  to  the 
children  of  this  Republic.  And  this  work  must  be  begun 
early  at  home,  and  continued  long  at  home,  and  the  school 
must  never  supersede  the  home.  We  have  found  Manoah's 
solicitude  about  the  bringing  up  of  his  angel-announced  son 
natural  and  proper.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  consider  the 
20* 


234  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

education  of  a  child  an  individual  blessing  rather  than  a 
general  one — personal,  rather  than  social.  The  advantages 
of  education  are  indeed  personal,  and  just  in  so  far  as  they 
are  a  blessing  to  the  individual  members  of  society,  in  the 
same  degree  they  are  a  blessing  to  society  itself.  The"  Bible 
teaches  us  that  no  one  has  a  right  to  segregate  himself  from 
his  fellow-men,  with  Cain-like  indifference  for  their  well- 
being.  But  an  educated  mind  has  extensive  relations  with 
the  world.  It  is  then  contrary  to  the  first  and  highest 
claims  of  humanity  that  it  should  refuse  to  shed  its  benign 
influences  upon  society.  Nay,  it  is  impossible  to  escape 
such  a  responsibility.  Intellect  can  no  more  exist  without 
responsibility,  than  matter  without  gravitation.  Responsi- 
bility is  as  inseparable  from  our*  individual  existence  as  our 
personal  identity.  Escape  from  it  is  as  impossible  as  anni- 
hilation. We  must,  then,  meet  it  as  men,  and  justify  the 
claims  of  God  and  man  upon  us,  or  turn  traitors  to  the 
society  of  the  universe  and  its  ineffable  Creator.  In  the 
measure,  therefore,  that  we  are  blessed  with  talents,  fac- 
ulties, and  attainments,  are  our  responsibilities  increased. 
"  Where  much  is  given,  much  is  required.  He  that  knows 
his  Lord's  will,  and  does  it  not,  shall  be  beaten  with  many 
stripes."  As  the  glory  of  a  State  is  but  the  aggregated 
glory  of  its  several  citizens,  so  whatever  contributes  to  the 
mental  enjoyment,  social  worth,  productive  industry,  com- 
mercial reputation  for  integrity,  and  to  the  moral  elevation 
of  the  individual  members  of  the  State,  must  be  regarded 
as  contributing  also  to  its  welfare  and  glory.  The  received 
maxim,  then,  that  it  is  easier  and  cheaper  to  prevent  crime, 
than  to  vindicate  the  laws  and  reform  the  transgressor, 
should  be  universally  put  into  practice.  The  vices  of  igno- 
rance and  depravity  cost  the  State  more  than  school-houses 
and  teachers.  The  public  safety  under  a  free  government 
requires  that  all  the  youth  be  instructed  in  knowledge  and 


THE    EPILOGUE    AND    ITS    TEACHINGS.  235 

morality.  And  in  attaining  such  blessings  the  greatest 
good  of  individuals  is  identical  with  that  of  the  commu- 
nity. For  a  number  of  years  there  has  been  no  want  of 
energy  on  the  part  of  the  press  of  Great  Britain  and  this 
country  in  advocating  the  enlightenment  of  the  people  in 
order  to  the  enjoyment  of  free  institutions.  We  are  almost 
wearied  with  references  to  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the  at- 
tempts at  Republics  in  past  ages  by  people  not  capable  of 
preserving  freedom,  nor  indeed  able  to  comprehend  what 
it  is.  The  Ionian  islands  are  a  remarkable  instance,  how- 
ever, that  is  not  so  often  referred  to.  Their  history  is  a 
striking  illustration  of  the  hopelessness  of  a  people  under- 
taking to  govern  themselves  without  the  requisite  intelli- 
gence, morality,  and  religion.  They  have  played  very  nearly 
the  same  game  for  many  years.  "  Three  times,  at  very 
wide  intervals,  has  Corfu  (the  ancient  Corcyra)  found  it 
necessary  to  abnegate,  more  or  less  completely,  a  political 
independence  of  which  it  was  incapable,  and  to  place  itself 
under  the  sovereignty  or  protection  of  the  power  which  in 
each  of  those  respective  ages  was  mistress  of  the  seas."^ 
At  one  time  Corcyra  was  obliged  to  seek  abroad  refuge  from 
her  own  selfish  policy  and  her  own  internal  factions  by 
throwing  herself  into  the  arms  of  Athens.  At  another 
time  she  was  compelled  to  seek  protection  against  herself 
under  the  banner  of  Venice.  And  then  again  from  an 
abortive  attempt  to  form  a  Republic,  the  lonians  threw 
themselves  at  the  feet  of  Russia,  then  of  France,  and  finally 
passed  under  the  protectorate  of  Great  Britain.  In  1802 
they  sent  M.  Naranzi  as  envoy  to  Alexander,  Emperor  of 
Russia,  begging  that  with  an  "  imposing  armed  force,"  he 
would  save  them  from  the  cruel  sufferings  of  their  attempts 
at  self-government.  They  directed  their  envoy  to  say  to 
the  Czar  :  "  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  seven  islands,  who 

*  London  Quarterly  Review,  October,  1852,  p.  168. 


236  THE    GIANT   JUDGE. 

had  attempted  to  establish  a  republican  form  of  government, 
are  neither  born  free,  nor  are  they  instructed  in  any  art  of 
government,  nor  are  they  possessed  of  moderation  so  as  to 
live  peaceably  under  any  government  formed  by  their  own 
countrymen."  This  was  certainly  very  remarkable  language 
,  for  a  people  having  intelligence  enough  to  struggle  to  be 
free,  and  yet  not  able  to  govern  themselves.  But  all  history 
is  a  demonstration  of  its  correctness.  Italy  and  France, 
Central  and  South  America  are  monuments  proving  to  all 
the  world  that  sanctified  intelligence  among  the  people  alone 
can  save  them  from  the  cruelties  of  self  government.  Mere 
knowledge  is  not  enough.  There  must  be  constitutional 
laws,  and  right  principles  must  be  deeply  implanted  in  the 
bosoms  of  those  that  would  be  free.  Men  can  not  govern 
themselves  unless  they  abide  immutably  by  the  laws  and 
constitution  that  guarantee  their  freedom.  The  great  Eng- 
lish historian*  has,  in  his  usually  happy  way,  described  the 
very  danger  we  so  seriously  apprehend.  "I  remember," 
says  he,  "  that  Adam  Smith  and  Gibbon  had  told  us  that 
there  would  never  again  be  a  destruction  of  civilization  by 
barbarians.  The  flood,  they  said,  would  no  more  return 
to  cover  the  earth  j  and  they  seemed  to  reason  justly,  for 
they  compared  the  immense  strength  of  the  civilized  part  of 
the  world  with  the  weakness  of  that  part  which  remained 
savage,  and  asked  from  whence  were  to  come  those  Huns, 
and  from  whence  were  to  come  those  Vandals,  who  were 
again  to  destroy  civilization  ?  Alas  !  it  did  not  occur  to 
them  that  civilization  itself  might  engender  the  bar- 
barians who  should  destroy  it.  It  did  not  occur  to  them 
that  in  the  very  heart  of  great  capitals,  in  the  very  neigh- 
bourhood of  splendid  palaces,  and  churches,  and  theatres, 
and  libraries,  and  museums,  vice  and  ignorance  and  misery 

*  Macaulay's  speech  at  Edinburgh. 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND    ITS   TEACHINGS.  237 

might  produce  a  race  of  Huns  fiercer  than  those  who  marched 
under  Attila,  and  Vandals  more  bent  on  destruction  than 
those  who  followed  Genseric." 

10.  Samson  is  a  pictorial  of  a  mother's  anxiety  and  in- 
fluence. We  have  no  powers  of  analysis  sufficient  to  disin- 
tegrate the  virtue,  and  freedom,  and  prosperity  of  modern 
Christendom,  so  as  to  show  the  proportion  and  amount  of 
its  well-doing  and  well-being  that  is  distinctly  to  be  traced 
to  the  influence  of  Christian  mothers;  but  it  is  paramount 
to  all  other  sources  of  power.  For  example,  who""can  mea- 
sure the  forming  energy  of  Washington  upon  the  destinies 
of  the  American  people  and  of  the  world  ?  And  yet  in 
the  chronicles  of  the  invisible  world  the  character  of  that 
great  patriot  was  formed  by  the  training  of  his  mother. 
And  upon  examination,  we  find  his  mother's  favourite 
author  to  have  been  the  great  Christian  judge,  the  English 
Sir  Matthew  Hale.  The  identical  copy  she  used  is  still 
cherished  as  an  heir-loom,  in  the  family.  Now  in  the 
"  Contemplations"  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale  we  have  an  essay 
on  "  The  Good  Steward/'  and  a  series  of  "  Meditations" 
on  the  Lord's  Prayer.  And  in  those  works  of  the  learned 
and  pious  judge,  we  find  the  germs  of  Washington's  great 
character.  These  works  were  his  mother's  manual  when 
she  was  training  him  for  the  high  destinies  for  which  a 
supreme  providence  was  preparing  him.  Here  we  have  the 
very  principles  taught,  and  the  very  precepts  inculcated, 
that  were  fitted  to  produce  the  traits  characteristic  of  the 
American  patriot.  Moderation,  self-control,  sobriety,  integ- 
rity, and  a  well-balanced  judgment,  and  an  habitual  recog- 
nition of  God's  will  and  dependence  on  an  overruling  pro- 
vidence, have  great  prominence  in  the  Briton's  pages.  And 
these  are  the  very  elements  of  Washington's  character. 
More  than  one  hundred  times  we  find  him  in  his  letters, 
speaking  of  his  dependence  on  God's  providence.  And 


238  THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 

throughout  his  life,  we  have  "  the  composure  of  the  Areo- 
pagus carried  into  the  struggles  of  Thermopylae."  The 
beauty  and  the  glory  of  his  character  is  its  combination  of 
integrity,  moral  goodness,  heroic  courage,  with  judicial 
sagacity  and  serenity  amid  all  the  fierce  conflicts  of  a  great 
and  successful  Revolution.  What  mother  is  there,  then, 
who  is  not  willing  to  forego  some,  or  all  the  pleasures  of 
fashion,  and  spend  her  strength  in  teaching,  and  toiling, 
and  praying  for.  her  child,  seeing  that  it  is  given  to  her  by 
the  Great  Father  of  all  spirits,  more  than  to  any  other,  to  unseal 
the  fountain  of  its  being  and  form  the  channel  in  which  it 
is  to  flow  for  ever  ?  The  mother's  example  and  lessons  are 
the  passages  of  experimental  divinity  and  social  philosophy 
that  are  never  forgotten.  By  them  we  both  live  and  die. 
The  tribute  which  one  of  our  Chief  Magistrates,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  paid  to  his  mother,  expresses  what  almost 
every  one  feels  to  be  true.  "  It  is  due,"  said  he,  "  to  grat- 
itude and  nature,  that  I  should  acknowledge  and  avow  that, 
such  as  I  have  been,  whatever  it  was,  such  as  I  am,  what- 
ever it  is,  and  such  as  I  hope  to  be  in  all  futurity,  must  be 
ascribed,  under  providence,  to  the  precepts,  prayers,  and 
example  of  my  mother." 

Finally.  We  beseech  you,  young  men,  because  you  are 
strong,  remember  your  responsibility  for  your  influence  upon 
society.  You  are  invested  with  an  immortality  that  you 
cannot  lay  aside.  When  you  die  and  leave  the  world  into 
which  you  have  been  born,  your  influence  will  walk  the 
earth  and  represent  you  where  you  personally  will  be  known 
no  more.  Aim  then  by  God's  help  to  be  a  fountain  of  good 
influences  and  not  of  evil.  In  Samson  you  have  a  solemn 
warning  against  the  wiles  of  the  strange  woman,  of  whom 
Solomon  has  said  :  "  I  find  more  bitter  than  death  the  woman 
whose  heart  is  snares  and  nets,  and  her  hands  are  bands  ; 


,    .;-.:• 


THE   EPILOGUE   AND   ITS   TEACHINGS.  239 

whoso  pleaseth  God  shall  escape   from  her;  but  the  sinner 
shall  be  taken  by  her." 

Forget  not  your  dedication  to  God,  nor  disappoint  the 
just  expectations  of  your  friends.  Ponder  well  what  your 
country  expects  of  you.  Remember  your  patrimony  and 
your  age.  Fill  your  minds  with  objects  illustrious  as  your 
antecedents  are  hopeful.  You  are  surrounded  by  living 
voices  calling  you  to  maintain  the  principles  and  faith  of 
sires  passed  into  glory.  Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  light, 
and  by  self-control,  and  by  high  principles,  and  by  an  in- 
corruptible love  for  truth  and  for  your  country,  rebuke 
whatever  billows  may  arise  to  threaten  the  ark  of  your  fa- 
thers, and  make 'them  roll  at  your  feet  soft  as  the  swelling 
of  a  summer's  sea.  Serve  well  your  generation  according 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  then  when  you  are  laid  to  rest, 
though  it  be  far  from  the  home  of  your  youth,  and  in  dust 
that  knoweth  not  the  bones  of  your  fathers,  still  you  will 
rest  in  peace,  and  the  everlasting  God  will  be  your  eternal 
portion.  Whatever  good  you  do  in  the  world  will  live 
and  come  home  with  its  harvest  of  glory  at  the  judgment 
day;  and  whatever  evil  you  do,  if  not  repented  of  and  for- 
given, will  go  on  increasing  its  guilt  until  it  is  garnered  on 
your  heart  amid  the  awful  realities  of  eternity.  They  that 
turn  many  to 'righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  of  the 
firmament  for  ever  and  ever ;  and  they  that  have  turned 
many  to  evil  shall  burn  as  pyramids  of  fire,  embosoming, 
like  so  many  unquenchable  molochs,  the  souls  of  those  they  • 
have  seduced  from  truth  and  innocence,  and  dragged  doWn 
to  ruin;  and  the  curses  of  all  good  men,  and  of  all  the  holy 
angels,  and  of  God  Almighty,  shall  fall  upon  them  for  ever 
and  ever. 

"  AND  THOU,  MY   SON,  KNOW   THOU    THE    GOD    OP    THY 
FATHER,    AND  SEEVE    HIM    WITH  A    PERFECT    HEART   AND 


240 


THE   GIANT   JUDGE. 


WITH  A  WILLING  MIND  :  FOR  THE  LORD  SEARCHETH 
ALL  HEARTS,  AND  UNDERSTANDETH  ALL  THE  IMAGINA- 
TIONS OF  THE  THOUGHTS  :  IF  THOU  SEEK  HIM,  HE  WILL 
BE  FOUND  OF  THEE  :  IF  THOU  FORSAKE  HIM,  HE  WILL 
CAST  THEE  OFF  FOR  EVER." 


THE   END. 


en  ov^ 


